Tales of Another Past
by Faralyne
Summary: Natsu Dragneel didn't understand why, but it felt as if he knew these people from another time—another life. And, according to the fairy in his dreams, there was only one surefire way to find out. He had to reunite all of his alleged friends from the past. But, of course, this task would be next to impossible. Natsu x Gray. Natray. AU (somewhat). Rated M. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Tales of Another Past**

 _By Faralyne_

Chapter 1: Tales of a Transfer Student

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Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. You're lucky too. But, unfortunately, that's none of my business.

Summary: Natsu Dragneel didn't understand why, but it felt as if he knew these people from another time—another life. And, according to the fairy in his dreams, there was only one surefire way to find out. He had to reunite all of his alleged friends from the past. But, of course, this task would be next to impossible.

Specifics: Natsu x Gray. Natray. Alternate Universe (somewhat). Possible Loke x Lucy. One-sided Juvia x Gray. Possible one-sided Natsu x Lucy. Rated M.

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 _ **A/N:**_ _I finally somehow figured out this story onto a laptop. TAP will probably be a slow building story, but I'm not sure how slow yet (maybe 18-35 chapters?). If any of you read Through the Eyes of the Observer, please excuse my very slow updates! Also, I will be recommending songs and/or quotes (I like quotes) that go with each chapter. I'm going to stop rambling now._

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Days Since Natsu's Transfer: 0

" _Déjà vu is the mind's way of letting you know that you are in the right place at the right time." –Unknown_

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 _Gray was picking at that stupid scratch on the bar counter again. He always sat in the same spot when he was bored, Natsu noted, picking at that scratch in the wood with his nail in long, slow drags. Natsu could never figure out why he did it. Mira wasn't fond of the wear and tear in her bar top, and Gray was only making it worse. Did he want her to cry? Gray's other hand cradled his head, spiky black hair with a dark blue tint spilling against pale skin and revealing more of his slender neck. His entire body reeked boredom._

 _Natsu grinned. Mischief danced through his obsidian eyes as he rose from his table and tiptoed over to the unsuspecting ice mage. Lucy was giving him a weird look—she had been talking about something girly, and Natsu couldn't wrap his mind around the concept—since the pinkette abruptly ignored her. She only shook her head when she realized what he was doing._

" _Boys," his keen ears heard the celestial wizard mutter under her breath._

 _Engulfing a single tanned hand in brilliant flames, Natsu snuck up behind the ice mage. He set the bottom of Gray's wooden chair on fire, slapping his other hand over his mouth threatening to laugh and sneaking away a few steps. He waited and watched. It took Gray a moment before his shouldered straightened up, head lifting slowly and confused, and he sniffed the air. He looked down._

" _What the fuck?!"_

 _The ice mage was a mess of floundering limbs as he sprung off the burning chair and tripped onto the floor. Oh, but he wasn't done. Before he could even fathom his confusion and embarrassment, the flickers of little flames were licking his pants, and he was flailing around again. Gray pulled his pants off and threw them to the ground, stomping on them._

 _Natsu couldn't control his laughter anymore. His hand cradling his mouth was shaking along with the rest of his body, rough snorts and slightly muffled bawls of laughter seeping through. His legs gave out, and he was rolling on the floor._

 _The guild was watching; they were always watching when Natsu and Gray were within five feet of each other. Cana was laughing too—and then choking on her beer. Levy was shaking her head, slipping into the seat across from Lucy. Macao and Wakaba snickered; Natsu and Gray were a source of amusement any day._

 _Gray was towering over the pinkette in no time, a vicious glare shooting from his cobalt eyes. Natsu smirked up at him, bouncing to his feet and crossing his arms. "What's the matter, Ice Princess? Can't stand the heat?"_

 _Gray's droopy eye twitched. "No, Sulfur Breath, I can't stand you," he retorted. "I can take your flimsy heat…" Natsu only blinked, and it instantly felt as if the room temperature dropped fifty degrees. Veins of ice pulsed out from the ice mage's feet, surrounding only Natsu. Violent shivers ran down his back, and Natsu tightened his arms crossing his chest, his knees buckling in a bit._

" _You're the one who can't take the cold." It was Gray's turn to smirk._

 _The pinkette growled. Hot steam oozed from his skin, sparks flying off his clenched fists. "You're puny ice doesn't bother me. Fire will always beat ice," Natsu argued._

" _In your dreams, Shitty Flame!"_

" _Then let me send you to them, Popsicle!"_

 _Lucy exhaled heavily from her seat, mumbling something to Levy. Startling the celestial mage, Loke opened his gate, kneeling next to his princess and taking her hand. "Fear not, my lady. I will protect you from those bickering idiots."_

" _Loke, what did I tell you about appearing out of nowhere! You nearly give me a heart attack every time."_

" _At least he'll protect you from flying fire and ice. I still haven't recovered from their last brawl," Levy admitted, rubbing her shoulder._

" _Gihihi, if you let those bumblin' idiots push ya' around all the time, well, no wonder ever'one thinks ya' weak," a voice snickered behind the petite, blue-haired girl. Levy nearly jumped when Gajeel patted her head teasingly._

" _Gajeel!"_

 _He fell into the seat next to her, "If ya' really need someone protectin' ya', I guess ya' glad I'm here now." Though she clearly didn't like the idea of Gajeel protecting her, the splay of red on her puffed-out cheeks was contradicting. Gajeel smirked._

 _The moment was short-lived since Gray nearly squashed her, smashing into Gajeel's outstretched arms from Natsu's fiery punch. He quickly pushed himself up, chilled air seeping from his fist at the pinkette's smug laugh._

" _That's playing dirty, Flame Brain!"_

" _Like you didn't use my muffler against me last time!"_

" _You fell for it, idiot!"_

" _Well, who's—"_

" _Enough!" a booming voice commanded, muffled the two backbiting ones. Natsu and Gray quickly recoiled from each other, their magic dispelling from their hands. The pinkette was quick to wrap his arm around Gray's bare shoulders, giving off the impression of best friends. He knew who it was before he even saw the redhead._

" _Hi Erza," Gray greeted meekly. "We weren't fighting. Just expressing our opinions… loudly…"_

" _Aye!"_

" _Natsu turned into Happy again!" the pinkette heard someone chuckle._

 _Natsu pulled Gray closer with every step the Titania took towards the pair. He could even feel the ice mage's rapidly beating heart through his vest. It was eerily quiet, except for the clinking of fresh armor. And the cackling fire spreading from the burnt chair. Oops. He gulped. They weren't going to get out of this one unscathed. The pinkette made a mental note to take their fights outside of the guild next time…_

— BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! —

Natsu blinked awake, his eyelids settling half-lidded as he stared at his white ceiling. He was sprawled out on the beige carpet with his foot caught in his red bed sheets. His alarm clock blared from the wooden nightstand.

 _Not again._ It happened. Those weird dreams. Strangely familiar, nostalgic dreams with bizarre people and an even more bizarre world.

He couldn't remember when they started, but dreams of guilds and magic frequented his subconscious. People he had never met before… in his dreams, they were his best friends—his family. And every dream felt so real. The fire magic that surrounded his fists, the laughter, the heartwarming feelings he felt whenever he was surrounded by these strangers. Everything felt so real, it made his heart squeeze painfully as if he had lost a part of him. Natsu was filled with guilt every time his eyes fluttered open after such dreams.

It took the tanned teenager a minute to gather his bearings and realize he was in his bedroom, fallen onto the floor from his wild slumber. Lurching up slowly, he smacked a hand over his alarm clock and scratched at his lower back.

Something furry brushed against his back, and Natsu smiled, pulling the blue cat into his arms. Happy always greeted him when he woke up. They used to sleep together, but maybe it was Natsu's horrible sleeping positions that pushed the curious cat away. "Morning, Happy," the pinkette greeted, petting the small cat until he purred in delight. "All right, bud. I got to get ready for school."

Natsu scooted Happy to the floor and stood up on shaky legs, roughly pulling his foot out of the tangle of sheets. The apartment was quiet, but it was always quiet. It was only the two of them after all. Natsu's father, Igneel, worked overseas for as long as the teen could remember, and Natsu's mother—well, she just wasn't in the picture. Igneel rented this single apartment for Natsu so he wouldn't have to move around every few months because of his father's high-maintenance job. He frowned.

It was also his father's fault he was a new transfer student to some prissy rich-kid private school. Tenrou Island Private High School. _What a mouthful._ Natsu could never understand how in the world his father was on good terms with the principal, but apparently he made a phone call and got the pinkette in on a scholarship fund. Good for colleges, he said in a quickly scribbled letter.

His frown deepened as he pulled out the clean, crisp school uniform that was mailed along with the letter. It was composed of a dark blue blazer with a weird insignia over the left pectoral, white button-down shirt with a black silk tie, and nice grey slacks. There also was a dark blue sweater vest for the spring weather. Natsu felt the weight of the corners of his lips tugging to the floor even more. How else was he supposed to feel? His father—whom he hadn't spoken to in what seemed like forever—suddenly uprooted him from his comfortable public school life and dumped him in a sea of spoiled brats and daddy's money. Igneel didn't even warn him, nor ask for his thoughts on the transfer. Natsu's heart squeezed uncomfortably. He missed his father.

After begrudgingly getting ready, Natsu pulled out one his refrigerated pre-made breakfast boxes and lunches. Even Zeref knew he couldn't cook to save his life, relying on convenience store meals and TV dinners. It wasn't the least bit healthy, but somehow his body got used to it after all these years. Plus, they were cheap, and his monthly allowance wasn't something he could spend frivolously.

After giving Happy one last loving pet, Natsu rushed on his raging red bike to the school. He'd never seen it before—his old, much better school was in the opposite direction. The cold air whipping past him chilled his cheeks, reddening them and prickling his nose. Even though winter was coming to an end, its cold claws were still deeply sunk into Fiore County. The trees were bare and shaking off the cold, the ground peeking up against the last of the snow. A few wrong turns here and there (and consulting a random person where the damn school was), Natsu stopped in front of… _the hell?_

Two rows of hibernating trees lined a perfectly smooth dirt road, leading to the vast staircase of the largest school building Natsu had ever seen. And there was an identical one sitting behind it, a little off to the right. _Is this really a high school?_ The old brick buildings were about five stories high, stretching sideways like football stadiums. They left a prestigious atmosphere hanging in the air the longer he stared from his bike. Natsu shuddered. He didn't belong here.

Natsu was suddenly hyperaware of the whispering and imprudent stares around him. Aware of the pompous brats stepping out of their butler-driven rich cars and the fact that he was the only one riding a bike—let alone one he pawned off of a guy who owed him one.

"A transfer student? This late in the school year?"

"It's pretty early in the semester though."

"Scholarship obviously. He's riding a bike. _Pfft_."

"Poor thing. I bet he's never even seen a _$1,000_ bill."

The pinkette's eye twitched uncontrollably, and he glared at the wandering eyes. He would have said something too, but a lady popped up in front of him. She was wearing an ironed business suit with a pencil skirt and double-breasted jacket. Her brown hair was done up in a purposely messy bun, her skin tanned just a bit. She pushed her hot pink, cateye eyeglasses up and flashed a professionally warming smile.

"You must be Mr. Dragneel, I suppose?" She bowed. Her voice wasn't irritatingly high or annoying, but there was a slight lisp to her 's'. "I am the head secretary, Ms. Renald, but you may call me, Lauren. Welcome to Tenrou Island Private High School; though I believe all the students call it Tenrou High. I've been trying to keep up with the 'cool lingo' lately." She smiled a bit more naturally as if she cracked a joke. Natsu blinked. _Maybe she did?_

As if the cogs finally started spinning in his head, Natsu swung his leg around his bike and kicked out the stand. He hurried over to Lauren with his hand outstretched. "Yeah, hi. I'm Natsu—but you already knew that," he corrected, an awkward half-smile on his face. Lauren kept her smile, shaking his hand once before clasping hers behind her back.

"That's okay. It's perfectly normal to be nervous on your first day. I am here to give you a small tour of the school and send you off to your first class. The teacher has been notified of your arrival and tardiness," she explained before her hand motioned to a fancy bike rack off to the side. It didn't look like it was ever used. "If you like, you can lock up your bike over there, and we can start the tour. Of course, you will see the principal for a quick meeting at the end."

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Holy shit. This school was huge. And expensively built. Classrooms were equipped with state-of-the-art technology and mint condition school desks, chairs, and whiteboards and/or chalkboards. Natsu guessed he wouldn't find curse words and crude drawings on them, no gum and other crap stuck under the desks. Healthy vending machines were around every other corner along with too many different types of recycling bins. Natsu couldn't believe the detail either. The hallway walls and ceilings were painted sky blue with realistic white clouds. They were lined with trophies, certificates, and medals of different activities and academic achievements; however, there were also specially cased displays of important school history. Just enough for the school to look dignifying instead of showing off. Each classroom had their own plaque for the teacher and which classes were taught in the room. Helpful signs hung from the ceiling to direct any lost students.

"This building, McAllen, is mainly for upperclassmen—juniors and seniors—while the one behind it, Snyder, is mainly for underclassmen—freshmen and sophomores. This division may be broken by underclassmen taking advanced classes or upperclassmen needing remedial classes. Mr. Dragneel, you are a junior, correct?" Lauren asked as they walked down one of the halls in McAllen, heading towards the elevator. He nodded, a bit distractedly. It was a lot to take in. He was still having trouble remembering he was going to be _attending_ this private school.

Natsu stared outside the impossibly clear glass window. It showcased the expanse of land behind the building where a large greenhouse stood alongside several beds of flowers, plants, and vegetation. A couple of students in white lab coats were scribbling on sheeted clipboards, conversing to themselves. The pinkette didn't realize Ms. Renald stopped at the window until he was trying not to slam into her.

"Ah, are you interested in agricultural, soil, or plant sciences? If I am remembering correctly, this group of students is working on combatting a common plant disease. They recently had a breakthrough and are submitting their results to the EPA," she explained, giving Natsu another smile. This one held a tinge of pride and adoration. "Every student has a talent or field of interest they get to explore in their independent studies. At Tenrou, we fervently encourage student research and creativity. I saw that your father didn't write down a talent for you, Mr. Dragneel."

Natsu stared at the students a little longer before turning away, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. "Yeah, I doubt I can cure diseases, so no talents for me." The head secretary gestured to continue towards the elevator and Natsu followed. A sharp warning bell rang through the ceiling, and his shoulders tensed up. _No. That didn't scare the shit out of me. But, why is it so loud?_ Natsu shook his head and tried to focus on Lauren's voice. A couple of students hurried passed them in attempt to reach their classes on time.

"… Don't be so hard on yourself, Mr. Dragneel. Research is not for everyone. Students can commit themselves to art, sports, anything, really. Even though we have advisors for finding talents, I don't mind lending an ear as well," Lauren said, pushing for the fifth floor once the elevator crept open. There was almost an awkward silence between them as she pulled out a tablet from her inside jacket pocket, scanning information on it.

"But, enough of that for now. I should tell you a little more about your classes. You will be taking basic junior-level courses based on your academic data from your previous school. Geometry, world history, English, physics, physical education, and a broadening horizons class, I believe. If these classes turn out to be too difficult, do not hesitate to make an appointment with your academic advisor to change into lower-level classes."

Natsu slowly cut his eye at the woman, furrowing his eyebrows. He wasn't sure if she just indirectly called him stupid, or if this school really was on a different level entirely. _Damn rich kids._ He snorted, clenching his hands into fists inside his pockets. And what was 'broadening horizons'? _Don't tell me I'll be stuck in some prissy philosophy class, contemplating why the Earth is round or some shit. This is a real treat, Dad._ He didn't mean to be so negative. Igneel probably gave an arm and leg to get him in here, even though he never asked his son's opinion. This was still so much to take in. And she probably thought he was a delinquent from a crummy school. It just—it wasn't fair. "Wow. Thanks, but no thanks, _Miss_. I'm not as dumb as you think. Can I meet the principal now and get this over with?"

Lauren's almond eyes widened, and she nearly dropped her tablet. Her mouth opened almost immediately to argue, but she ended up only gaping like a fish. She cleared her throat, pushing the glasses up and composing herself. "You misunderstand me, Mr. Dragneel. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but Tenrou High is a very demanding school. We only accept the top ten percent of applications. No public school, and even most private schools, come close to the level of difficulty and expectation we have. I was worried your transition would be hard, not because I think you are unintelligent, but because your public school may not have prepared you enough. I have high hopes you will excel passed this particular obstacle, but for now you must start out with basic-level classes. I apologize if my tone was inappropriate."

 _Oh._ Natsu almost felt guilty. Even in her professional tone, she couldn't disguise her panic and urgency. He stared ahead when the elevator door opened and they stepped out. "Administration and Student Resources," the sign read. There were several doors and a few turning corridors, maybe even doors leading to more doors. An open waiting lounge sat on their immediate right, a large oak desk behind it. The head secretary mentioned that was where she was usually stationed. She led him to the door in the far side of the floor, the principal's office. She stopped walking somewhere around the middle of the hallway.

"Makarov—I mean, Principal Dreyar—I don't mean to sound so informal—is right through that door. He means to ease your transition a little and give a small talk about the school. I hope you can really find your purpose here at Tenrou. Again, my desk is always open, Mr. Dragneel," Ms. Renald spoke, giving one last small smile before bowing. "Please, do not hesitate to come by if you do not know how to reach your first class."

"Yeah, thanks, Lauren. Really. Thanks a lot. And I'm sorry about earlier," Natsu returned her smile. He hoped that sounded sincere enough to make up for earlier. The pinkette didn't mean to take out his frustrations on her—she was just doing her job. He could be classy too. Natsu waved before opening the somewhat heavy door.

The principal's office was larger than the hallway made it seem. It was spacious with a couple of stacked bookshelves and office cabinets and drawers lining the white walls. Bland. Slightly intimidating. A massive desk was pushed back in front of a leering window. A couple of chairs were placed in front of the desk. But, it felt like all this intimidation was wasted on the man sitting in the big rolling chair.

 _TINY!_

If Natsu were a lesser man, maybe he would have comically fallen over, but he wasn't. He was just about done with this place.

The principal was an extremely short, elderly man. He had a growing bald spot on the top of his head with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair that stuck out in tuffs. He continued to stare at Natsu with black eyes from his high office chair.

"Hmm, most people knock before entering the office," Principal Dreyar hummed. He was stroking his white mustache, twirling a piece in his wrinkled fingers. Speculating Natsu. He cracked a smile. "But, we don't accept _most people_! Come in, and take a seat! Let's talk!" The principal jumped onto the desk, skipping over papers that were probably important and plopping down on the edge.

"Okay?" Well, what was Natsu supposed to say? He strode over to the chairs, sitting and crossing his arms. "What's up, Principal Dreyar?"

Something in Principal Dreyar's eyes lit up. He grinned excitedly. Natsu kicked his legs out under the uncomfortable scrutiny, trying to look around the office. His eyes stopped on framed picture on the desk. The principal and a blonde kid were making funny faces; the principal with his arm loosely hung around the kid's shoulders.

"You really do remind me of your father, Natsu," he suddenly spoke up. Natsu snapped his eyes towards the old man. He waved his hand dismissively. "And call me Makarov, everyone does. Well, except Lauren. That woman's been uptight from the start. Anyways, I'm supposed to talk to you about school history and what we expect and blah, blah, blah. After years and years, it gets old. So! I'll be giving you the short version. Any questions beforehand? Nervous? Wondering what Lauren's measurements are?"

Natsu's jaw slid open. There was only one question blaring in his mind. _How the hell did you become the principal of all this? Scratch that, how are you principal?!_ Natsu's old principal was a mean old man. He had it out for Natsu—for everyone. Ironic how he hated kids when he ran a _school_. He wasn't expecting much from this guy, but this was too much. Makarov laughed at the pinkette obviously scandalized face.

"Oh Zeref, don't take that last one too seriously! I'll start then. Mavis Vermillion and her team founded Tenrou in 1885. They had a vision to help students see their true talents and use them to take on the world. Really ambitious people. But, that's what led us to here! Now it's your turn to figure out why you have a scholarship and what you need to do with it," Makarov grinned. He picked up a folder and held it out to the pinkette.

"Don't worry, the answer's not as hard as you think! You just have to figure out who you really are on the inside. Ha, I'm so cryptic. Here's your student packet, schedule, and student planner. The packet's full of useful stuff from your independent studies to rules. And the planner's got school events and dates printed in it. Good luck, Natsu. Don't do dumb things and you'll be golden. Say hi to Igneel for me!"

Natsu nodded numbly, taking the thick folder. Makarov's words bumped around in his mind. He felt dizzy. His skin was too tight, as if it were trying to suffocate him. _'Figure out who you really are on the inside.' What's with this headache? That isn't even the worst part._ "Yeah. See yah, Makarov." Did the old man think Igneel was living with Natsu? How else could he speak to his father? The man never picked up a phone, and good luck if you wanted him to write a letter. The words stung.

He successfully distracted himself with his student schedule, finding a late pass paper clipped to it. _Okay, first class is geometry with Ms. Evergreen. Yawn. I'm finding a seat in the back and sleeping this damn headache off._

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Finding the classroom had been harder than he thought. And Natsu didn't feel like asking Lauren after his elevator mishap. _It can't be that hard to find a classroom. I blame this huge building._ He stopped somewhere on the second floor. Apparently this floor was for math and science, but the room numbers were all over the place. One wrong turn, and he was looking a completely different set of numbers. _Room 220G. I just want room 220G!_ The class had to be almost over. Natsu glanced at his phone to check the time. 8:32 AM, it read. His class ended in twenty-three minutes.

"Argh!" the pinkette groaned, pulling at his hair in frustration. His eyes flickered to a lone student turning down the hallway, her head down and staring at her hall pass. "You! Oi!" Natsu was shouting, jogging up to the startled girl. She had recoiled back; her head snapping up so fast, Natsu even winced. She stared at him in confusion and slight irritation. As if it was weird he was talking to her. She kept quiet.

"How do I get to 220G? I'm seriously lost here," he explained quickly, showing her his crumpled student schedule.

"Take the first left up ahead. It should be the classroom on the right," she replied almost immediately. The irritation and reluctance on her face deepened, and Natsu had to force a smile. _What the hell is wrong with these prissy kids?_

"Thanks."

The girl nodded and abruptly left without a word. Natsu stared after her for only a moment before stuffing his schedule in his backpack and hightailing it to class. He didn't even think as he padded over, slamming the door open in his hurried daze.

"I'm here!" Natsu nearly shouted, swallowing when he realized how loud his voice bounced off the walls. "I'm here." The teacher, Ms. Evergreen, visibly jumped and dropped the piece of chalk in her hands. She had a hand over her heart and whatever math she was spewing died on her agape lips. She quickly composed herself.

" _Mr. Dragneel_ , I assume?" There was a snarl to her voice, dipped in a rich feisty attitude. Saying she was young was an understatement. She couldn't have been more than twenty-one years old! _And I'm only seventeen._ How young could someone be to teach here? Or maybe she was a student and allowed to teach. Ms. Evergreen had light brown hair that fell down her back in soft waves. Her sharp eyes were dark brown behind her oval glasses, her lips naturally pink and full. And if Natsu thought Ms. Renald had a nice body, this woman put her to shame.

"First of all, we don't slam doors here. Don't just stand there all slack-jawed now. I know I'm gorgeous, but there's a limit to your fawning. Come to the front of the class. Late pass?"

The students snickered, but immediately fell silent to Ms. Evergreen's glare. Instead they turned their amusement back to Natsu, drilling their bored eyes into his body. Natsu bit the inside of his cheek to will away his embarrassment, pulling out the crumpled late pass and handing to her. Ms. Evergreen snatched the pass and glanced it over before throwing it away in a nearby trashcan. With a sigh, she turned to the class.

"Everyone, this is Natsu Dragneel. I'm Ms. Evergreen—but if you call me that, I'll smack you. Evergreen's fine. I don't need to be addressed so formally; I'm not _that_ old. I'll be teaching you an overview of geometry. If you can't follow, don't cry me a river," Evergreen spoke, her voice a bit of a drag. "You're not too late in the semester, so it shouldn't be hard to catch up. Read the syllabus and hand in any past assignments by next week. All right, that's enough from me. Introduce yourself or something." She waved her hand dismissively, pushing a syllabus into his chest.

"Uh." _The hell?_ Were teachers allowed to act like this? Natsu quickly rejected his shock when the principal's face flashed in his mind. _Never mind._ He cleared his throat, "I'm Natsu… and I'm from Fiore County… yeah." Evergreen rolled her eyes, but didn't press on.

She had started saying something else, but Natsu took the second to stare at his new classmates. Regardless of how screwed up this all was, he couldn't help the giddy feeling deep in his gut at meeting new people. He was a natural socialite at his old school. Everyone knew him, whether it was good or bad. The pinkette let his eyes roam a bit.

There was an orange-haired kid with azure-tinted sunglasses sitting in the back. He was tipping his chair back slowly, a lazy smirk on his handsome face. He quietly beckoned the cute pink-haired girl sitting next him and whispered something her ear, earning a giggle. _Flirt._ He was never good with those types of people. The ones who flitted around, tricking and seducing people. And he just felt… weird looking at him.

Natsu quickly looked to the other side of the room where a blonde girl was slightly hunched over, texting on her phone. She was blatantly ignoring him, pushing a loose strand of long hair behind her ear. Instantly, her face darkened, and chestnut orbs scowled right into his eyes as if telling him to back off. _Uh, okay? She's scary._ But, he felt the same strange churn in his stomach like he felt when he glanced at the playboy. His head started to feel too heavy again, and honestly, he—

 _Gray's droopy eye twitched. "No, Sulfur Breath, I can't stand you," he retorted. "I can take your flimsy heat…" Natsu only blinked, and it instantly felt as if the room temperature dropped fifty degrees. Veins of ice pulsed out from the ice mage's feet, surrounding only Natsu. Violent shivers ran down his back, and Natsu tightened his arms crossing his chest, his knees buckling in a bit._

" _You're the one who can't take the cold." Now, it was Gray's turn to smirk._

 _The pinkette growled. Hot steam oozed from his skin, sparks flying off his clenched fists. "Hah, you're puny ice doesn't bother me. Fire will always beat ice," Natsu argued._

" _In your dreams, Shitty Flame!"_

" _Then let me send you to them, Popsicle!"_

 _Lucy exhaled heavily from her seat, mumbling something to Levy. Startling the celestial mage, Loke opened his gate, kneeling next to his princess and taking her hand. "Fear not, my lady. I will protect you from those bickering idiots."_

" _Loke, what did I tell you about appearing out of nowhere! You nearly give me a heart attack every time."_

—Nostalgia. His stomach was twisting under nostalgic pressure and longing, and it made him nauseous. A creepy shiver tiptoed down Natsu's back like a spider spinning its web around his spine. He instantly paled, and something ripped in his mind. "Lucy, Loke," he mouthed their names without thinking.

"Why are you just standing there? Go sit down!" Evergreen's voice was too loud in his ears as she snapped her fingers in front of his face (and could he smell the minty shower gel she used this morning?), successfully knocking him out of his stupor. The snickers and giggles were back, and this time he couldn't stop the flush of pink on his cheeks. It was stark against his paling face.

"Sorry, I…" Natsu stuttered. His brain wasn't cooperating at the moment. Not after _that_.

"Just take the seat next to Mr. Fullbuster. I'd like to finish my lecture _on time_ , if that's all right with you. Gray, please raise your hand."

Natsu's obsidian eyes flickered towards the pale hand half-raised in indifference, and he strode towards the open desk right next to him. The guy was hunched over his desk, over his binder, scribbling every word Evergreen was writing on the chalkboard. A mop of dark hair was slicked back with some kind of smelly grease, pressing it completely against his head and neck. His forehead shone with the same oily look, and a splay of dark brown freckles that didn't match his complexion covered his nose and cheeks. Thick, square glasses were perched atop his nose. His uniform was crisp and clean, with black suspenders holding up his pants while his blazer hung from the back of the chair.

…

 _Wow._

Really. Natsu wondered how much time it took in the morning to look so damn geeky because that couldn't be natural. Seriously, he almost pitied the guy. It was a nice (hilarious) distraction from his small freak out a minute ago, but it wasn't enough. Natsu crashed into his new seat, already forgetting the nerd and ignoring the teacher's voice. He had more important things to think about. _Like figure out why the fuck are Lucy and Loke from my_ dreams _in my math class?!_ The déjà vu that rushed through his body was so alarming—so real, it was sickening. It was like his mind was trying to tell him something, but it was just as confused as he.

Natsu had to talk to them. Maybe he was just being delusional. Maybe their names weren't even Lucy or Loke. The class was pretty big, and the both of them sat in the back of the class while he was seated in the second row. Maybe he didn't see them right. This was impossible—to meet someone in your dreams before you actually meet them in real life. _Yeah, I'll talk to them, see it's not them, and everything will be fine—wait. Did she say, 'Gray?' Gray Fullbuster?_

The pinkette gradually turned his head to the left, staring openly at the boy scribbling notes into his binder. His face was serious, but his cobalt eyes seemed to be elsewhere in his mind. Maybe there was a resemblance in the face, but Natsu really couldn't tell. Dream Gray didn't have freckles or slicked-back hair or glasses or _suspenders_ —and he was damn sure Dream Gray was hot. _Well, hot for a guy._ This guy wasn't.

"Oi," Natsu whispered, somewhat shielding his mouth from the teacher with his hand. "Hey, Gray. _Psst._ I'm trying to talk to you. Hey." He tried calling out to him, but Gray ignored him. Natsu was sure he heard him because his shoulders bunched up, tension rolling off his body. He was about to swat the guy, but the bell rang. Gray stood up abruptly, gathering his things and briskly walking out the door.

.

World history and English passed by slowly. Natsu forced himself to listen to his teachers, Mr. Alzack and Mr. Freed. Well, world history was okay because Mr. Alzack—a pretty chill guy—liked to talk about his daughter all the time. He was so doting; it was pretty funny. And it was better than mulling over what he saw in geometry.

Like Gray, Natsu wasn't able to catch the other two either. Loke was surrounded by a group of big-chested girls. Whenever the pinkette came too close, a couple of them would glare and snipe at him. Lucy, well, she just gave off a vibe that said, "back off". She walked out of the room in confidence with a petite blunette at her side. Natsu couldn't help but notice how girls glared at her as well—like she was the scum of the earth.

All he wanted to do was make sure he wasn't crazy! None of them were in his world history class, so he couldn't jump them there. Although Loke was in his English class, he was just as unapproachable as before.

 _Damn it!_ Natsu grumbled under his breath, following the huddles of students heading to the cafeteria. All of this thinking and pretending to listen in class drained his energy. He was better at letting his fists do all the work. His stomach rumbled in protest, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around it. _Just a few more minutes…_

The cafeteria was huge. Natsu wondered why he was even surprised anymore. Students were moving everywhere, getting to their self-assigned tables and hurrying to be first in the lunch line. Colored tapestries with school achievements hung from the ceiling. Long ceramic tables with built in benches lined three of the walls. Light blue flower designs covered the white tabletops, dark blue vines wrapping around the legs. Round tables of the same design were spaced throughout the room. There was a single fat pillar standing in the center of the room with composting and trash bins circling it. A tall rectangle was carved out of the pillar, acting as a tray disposal. Students disappeared through an entrance labeled, "Buffet", and reappeared a long way down the wall where a few cashiers were stationed.

The pinkette shifted on the large beige tiles. _Where the hell am I supposed to sit?_ His eyes trailed the wall tables, flickering to the fine art painted on each wall. He was just about to pick a random table because, well, why should he care so much? It was a table! But, someone called his name.

"Hey, New Kid! What was his name again?" The voice paused for a moment. "Natsu! Over here."

The pinkette searched for the voice until he noticed Loke waving his hand at him, beckoning him to come over. Zeref must have a soul after all! He quickly scampered to Loke's table settling across from him and around a bizarre bunch of people. The cute pink-haired girl was there, along with a guy with crazy black hair, another cute pinkette, and a girl with most of her face covered in a lavender hijab.

"Hey, thanks man," Natsu greeted with a meek smile. He scratched the back of his head under the scrutiny of Loke's friends, threading his hands through his spiky locks for comfort.

The orange-haired man waved his hand dismissively, "It's no problem, dude. You're in my geometry class, and we could all use a friend after getting chewed out by Evergreen. The name's Loke." Natsu wondered if Loke realized he was in his English class too, but women surrounded the guy there too. Loke motioned to everyone else. "That's Cancer, my sweet Virgo, my majestic Libra, and this is the lovely Aries." His arm snaked around Aries' shoulder as he spoke, a lopsided grin on his face.

"Aquarius and Scorpio are off behind the greenhouse, so you should probably avoid that area for a while—what's with the face?" Loke interrupted himself, lifting a single eyebrow.

Natsu snorted. _He can't be serious._ "Are those really your names, or are you playing me?" Something lit up in Loke's eyes, but Virgo was the one who spoke.

"No, Master Dragneel. This was something we decided on our own when we became friends. We… prefer these names to our birth ones. However, Loke's true name is correct," she spoke in a quiet voice. Her head was bowed slightly, her short hair tickling her cheeks.

"Master what? Wait, okay that cool I guess? But, don't call me that. Natsu's just fine," the pinkette spoke fast, furrowing his eyebrows as he eyed the girl. She bowed her head again before returning to her Cobb salad.

Loke laughed, his hand sliding down Aries' arm as he talked. Her face lit up as she watched the deceivingly innocent hand. "Don't mind her. She's got a slave kink. Anyways, I thought I'd be a Good Samaritan and tell you how things work here—what the fuck is that?" Natsu stopped unwrapping his convenience store lunch at Loke's aghast face. _What?_

"Uh, pre-made lunch from Vinnie's?"

"A _what_ from _where_?"

Natsu sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "It's a packaged lunch from a convenience store, man. You know, Vinnie's shop." _Right, these rich kids probably don't even know what a convenience store is._ He shrugged his shoulder in indifference. "They're pretty good."

Before Natsu realized what was going on, Loke had grabbed the lunch was making a beeline for the trash. He sprung up so fast, but only made it in time to watch the horror of his lunch hit the bottom of the bin. It squished mockingly. Willing away his shock, he grabbed Loke's shoulder in anger.

"Dude, what the hell!?" he snapped, letting the rage snarl on his lips. A couple of the tables around them started to stare at them. But, he didn't care. You did not mess with his lunch—with his food. What a goddamn waste! _I knew playboy types were fucking assholes!_

Loke faced him head on, his complexion looking a little pale. "No one sitting at that table is eating that crap. Come on, I'll buy you lunch to make up for it. The food here is ten times better then whatever I just touched," he gestured towards the dwindling line. "Seriously man, you're going to end up in a hospital with sexy nurses pumping your stomach clean. And, besides the sexy nurses, that sounds like hell."

The pinkette didn't respond, only staring at the playboy like he was about to attack. Loke tugged him towards the line. The smell of succulent food lulled Natsu from his anger.

Maybe this school wasn't so bad.

It really was a buffet. The room had several different stations: a salad and fruit bar, pasta station, grill, sandwich and wrap station, special dish of the day, dessert station, _everything_. And there seemed to be an expert chef stationed at each and every one of them. Natsu didn't know he was drooling until the tickling on his chin was too much. He wiped at the saliva furiously when Loke laughed at him.

"Shut up. This is crazy!" he exclaimed _without_ a squeak in his voice.

Loke crossed his arms, smug. "Take your pick." He nodded his head at the stack of trays before walking towards the exit. Natsu managed to load his tray with everything he liked; classic Tenrou cheeseburgers, savory grilled steak, roasted ham sandwiches, they even had a rich version of that spicy drink he liked. _Seriously. This school might not be that bad._ He hated feeling like he owed Loke one, but the pinkette kept his mouth shut when he saw the price of a single lunch. _Well. This was a nice change, but I'll stick with my convenience store lunches._ Loke passed over his platinum credit card as if it were nothing.

"Thanks," Natsu stated sincerely as they settled back down, devouring his cheeseburger first. He had to fight the groan of divine pleasure as the food slid down his throat. The beef was juicy and thick. The bun was a little crispy on the outside and soft inside. Sauce dripped at the corner of his lips, and his mouth vacuumed it up. _So good!_ He guessed he didn't hide his indulgence well enough with Aries giggling at him.

"No problem, man. Like I was saying, if you want to survive here, you need to know how Tenrou works," Loke said. His voice was somewhat serious, though there was an amused glint in his eyes. Probably from Natsu gorging himself.

"Why? Is it really that bad? It's just a bunch of spoiled brats trying to one-up each other… No offense," Natsu asked, downing the spicy drink.

"None taken, Scholarship Boy! Nothing like fitting a stereotype," Loke drawled, rolling his eyes. His hand had disappeared under the table, and judging by Aries' darkening blush, it was crawling on her thigh. "And yeah, it's bad. You don't want to get on the wrong person's bad side unless your parents don't like working, and with the worst people, living. You'd be surprised how some of these people get their money."

Natsu snorted. "And I've met the people that run around with guns in their back pockets. I think I can take the people controlling them."

"Oh? That's an interesting story for next time," Loke grinned, giving Natsu a look that said he'd remember to bring it up later. "But really, dude. Just listen to what I have to say. Don't screw around with anyone connected to Ultear. And I mean _anyone_. She a beautiful, bad bitch and gives zero fucks who you are. Hmm… Everyone in geometry's pretty cool, so you should stick with them. No—wait, I lied. Stay away from Gray Fullbuster. Oh Zeref, if you love your social life—no, if you love your life, stay the fuck away from that nerd. Seriously, man. I'm warning you."

 _When you say it like that…_ Natsu wasn't one to follow the rules anyways. "Why? What'd he do?"

Loke shrugged. "Absolutely no clue. But, he's the target, so everyone just stays away from him. You should too."

As lunch ended, they parted with an unspoken promise to eat lunch together. And then realization hit Natsu like a bullet. _I forgot to interrogate him! Shit, I forgot all about Dream Loke._ He growled, pulling at his hair in frustration. Loke was an easygoing guy. He pretty much adored girls. And he was exactly like the celestial lion spirit from his dreams. Natsu made a face. _Well, close enough._ They all felt off. He thought Loke and Gray were supposed to be best friends or something. Wasn't he devoted to Lucy as well? And Lucy wasn't supposed to be so unapproachable.

 _Not everything's the same then. Maybe it's all just a coincidence. Or…_ Natsu's eyes widened as he stood in front of his physics class with Ms. Laki. _Maybe I have superpowers. That's a fun-er reason and so cool!_ He liked that idea more than being crazy. The mystical power to encounter people in the dream world before meeting them in real life. Okay, it was pretty lame, but interesting in a way.

.

"Newton's force laws forged a path for scientists and mathematicians. Many geniuses have derived fundamental equations from 'F' equals 'ma'. We will be diving a little deeper into those derivations next class…" Ms. Laki explained in an excited squeal. Natsu could only groan.

He never understood why people found physics fun. It was a glorified snooze-fest. He watched enough cartoons to know that only dull and ordinary people, with their sagging tired eyes and monotone voices, became physicists and engineers. The pinkette snoozed contently in the back of class; Ms. Laki's banters a sweet lullaby in his ears.

Natsu tailed a couple of students heading to the gymnasium. It was luck he overheard them complaining about the gym teacher, Mr. Gildarts. Apparently, he'd gotten shitfaced drunk last night and was sporting a serious hangover. And a hung-over Gildarts was murder in physical education. Luck really was on his side today. All the pinkette could do was sit on the vast metal bleachers with built-in seat cushions and watch the class since he didn't have a pair of gym clothes yet. He was supposed to talk to Mr. Gildarts about receiving a pair of the standard Tenrou gym clothes.

The gym teacher was grouchy. His eyebrow twitched every five seconds from the migraine that screwed that scowl on his face. And he forced his students to split up onto the four volleyball courts spread out in he gymnasium, waving his hand at them to play until class time was up. _Huh, not bad at all. At least they aren't running around a track until gym is up._

Natsu watched the court closest to him, his eyes perking up when he spotted the familiar slicked-back dark hair. Gray looked less geeky without his suspenders and crisp, clean uniform. His gym clothes were crumpled, but they fit his body better. The group of ten kids was picking teams until only Gray and a blunette were left. Natsu peered at the blue-haired girl. She was a pale-skinned, slender girl with a curvaceous body that rivaled Evergreen. _Seriously, what is with the girls in this school?_ Natsu couldn't see her eyes, but they looked like a dark color. Her blue hair fell in thick, natural waves down her shoulders.

And she looked somewhat familiar. The pinkette shook his head. He had enough déjà vu for the day, and he'd rather not dwell on her any longer for more.

The two teams seemed to be arguing over who was stuck with Gray or the blunette. Though, it looked more like a spat on who got stuck with Gray. Natus snorted. _And on your right, you can see the royally spoiled Tenrou students sizing up against each other on which pack gets to deal with the captured prey, Gray. Not surprising to see that rich kids aren't above bullying._ They even had a fancy target system. Whoever this Ultear-woman was, she didn't seem like she had it out for anyone but Gray.

Finally, the teams agreed on competing in rock-paper-scissors, and begrudgingly started playing. It was weird watching them play. Natsu loved gym back at his old school. His friends were competitive little bastards, conniving and sneaky. Any game they played was dirty and street-like. His fingered itched to join, even without a stupid set of standard clothes. With how the teacher was passed out on the bleachers, how would he even know? The pinkette liked moving, doing something, having fun. And these kids were kind of… really good.

They played strictly by the rules, but their spikes and hits were hard and left no room for mistakes. No one passed to Gray. He was just there to take up space. Yet, he acted like it was normal, the way his shoulders slumped, the way he stood so he wouldn't have to move from feeling uncomfortable, the way he tried to make himself more invisible to the blatant ignorance.

And then Gray was crashing on the floor.

Natsu bolted straight up, his body rigid from shock. His eyes blinked repetitively. The pinkette had to take a moment just to figure out what the hell happened. His eyes slid dangerously to the other side of the net. Where one student was shaking so badly from repressed laughter while the others pretended nothing happened. Gray flung his hands up to cradle his gushing nose from the ground, looking just as shocked as Natsu felt. The thick blood kept spilling over his fingers, staining his white t-shirt a gruesome color. The volleyball rolled away from Gray's body, a smudged imprint of blood sullied a side of it.

"Gray… What the hell? You got blood on the volleyball. That's disgusting," Natsu heard someone complain loudly. It was the same one who spiked the damn ball in the first place.

Out of nowhere, the gym teacher sprung to life. He hurried (as fast as a hung-over person could) to Gray slightly curled body when no one else would. No, that was wrong—that blue-haired girl was crouching next to him—wait, where did she come from? Natsu completely forgot about her. Mr. Gildarts was snapping at students to go back to the game before he started talking to the blunette in hushed tones. They were about to leave the gym together, but Gray wretched his elbow from the girl's grasp and left on his own. She stared after him.

Natsu finally realized he was still standing and staring openly at them, at Gray's misfortune. He willed himself to sit back down as Mr. Gildarts approached him to talk about where to receive gym clothes. Yet, he still felt tense, his eyes sliding to the exit more than a couple of times. Natsu wasn't going to lie; he wanted to punch the asshole across the court. The anger that welled inside him was borderline excessive. He held back, because… well, why should he? _Why should I fight for a guy I barely know?_

Somehow, the thought hurt.

.

Broadening horizons wasn't what Natsu thought. At all. Mr. Neekis—no, just Jura—was an awesome guy. First, he didn't make Natsu stand in front of yet another class and introduce himself. He let him take his seat since he already explained to the class they were getting a new transfer student. Not embarrassing Natsu was a plus for anyone. Second, he was massive! Jura introduced himself instead, talking about his many accomplishments in martial arts and how he used to travel the world to compete and learn from the best. Natsu didn't need to verify whether he was lying with the immense fucking muscles and the authentic Inuit robes. _Why isn't he the gym teacher?_ Third, broadening horizons was pretty fun. And more helpful to his goal than anything else.

Today, the class was broken up into small groups to discuss the art of taking pictures—like lighting and shadows and other artistic ways. Each group was given a camera and was supposed to pick an interest everyone shared mutually. After they chose one, they were supposed to hunt for that interest in the school and take about three pictures of it. The only catch was they had to take the photos in the artistic ways they discussed prior. This lesson was about diving a bit into photography.

And this class also had Lucy in it. Who sat right in front of Natsu. Sadly, she wasn't in his group. It couldn't be too easy to get a hold of her. Though, being able to sit near to her let the pinkette see how she looked exactly like Dream Lucy. Her voice was the same. The confidence in her eyes still shone. But, her attitude was completely different. It looked like she was grouped with the blue-haired friend—Levy, she may have been called—and she still wasn't the cheerful, sarcastic and indescribably kind person from his dreams.

His group decided on taking pictures of food, strolling to the greenhouse and beds of vegetation, the cafeteria, sneaking into one of the faculty break areas. Natsu never thought he could have so much fun in a class. At his old school, the teachers cared about the students as much as the cranky old principal did. The students had to entertain themselves—which usually turned into detentions and suspensions.

The last school bell blared in Natsu's ears when his group was trying to back out of the faculty room, and they ran back to class to hand in their camera.

"Do you have any first impressions about Tenrou you'd like to share?" Jura asked Natsu before he gathered his backpack and left. There was a small knowing smile on the man's face. Natsu snorted. He wanted to be mad about it, but couldn't bring himself to be.

"It's all right. I guess I can stick around for your class… What's going on tomorrow?" he found himself asking curiously. Natsu tried to shrug his shoulder to look more indifferent. _You know what? Screw it. This shit was fun, and I'm fine with admitting it._ His eyes flickered up to Jura's face expectantly.

The teacher smiled broadly. "Since tomorrow Thursday, I usually give the class the day to explore a couple of TED Talks that interest them. However, since the class ran overtime, I'll let you guys fiddle with your photos a bit; get them printed and handed in. Then, we will travel to the computer lab on this floor for TED Talks. Don't forget to bring you earphones," Jura explained, his voice calm and pleased.

Natsu dipped his head once before heading for the door. "Alright, teach. Sounds cool. See yah tomorrow."

"Have a good rest of the day, Natsu. Keep your eye out for anything interesting."

Natsu let his face screw up a bit at Jura's words, but inevitably shrugged it off in the end. His words left a weird taste in the pinkette's mouth. He strolled the emptying hallways a bit, lazily looking for the main entrance of McAllen. And after a few minutes, he ended up risking a shortcut that led him to the greenhouse.

He sighed, eyes flickering to the partially cloudy sky as if it were its fault he chose not to follow the rest of the students. _Well, at least I can walk around the building to get to the front… and then it's home sweet home._ Directions weren't his strong point, but if he risked enough routes, he'd find the right way sooner or later. The pinkette shoved his hands in his pants pockets and strolled towards the closest corner of the building.

This side had a large green space with a tall tree sitting in the middle. A few bushes lined the building with flowers Natsu had never seen before. It looked like the perfect spot to nap when skipping a class. Or at lunch. Or after school. He would've stayed indifferent about the space too. Natsu wasn't one to dose off at such an opportunity when he could be goofing off. Wasn't it more fun to play with friends than to sleep? But, he froze at the corner of McAllen to watch a group of students shove Gray back into the tree.

He was covered in dirty water that streaked his body and clothes in a translucent, light brown color. Natsu could smell him from here, his nose scrunching up at the stench. And the students were laughing at him. There were three of them standing there, cursing him and snapping snide comments.

"It must suck to be Ultear's target. Now everyone hates you."

"It's not like they liked him before."

"Of course not, who could like a nerdy scholarship boy? Do yourself a favor and quit school."

"Yeah, then no one will have to see your ugly face again." The guy with dirty blonde hair shoved Gray back again, watching his feet stumble into the large tree.

Natsu didn't notice how hard his hand curled around the brick corner of the building until it started hurting something awful. He pulled it away, staring at the prickles of red speckle his bruised palm. He couldn't understand why this guy was striking his emotions so hard. _No, it's the bullying—that's what's got me so angry. Damn lowlifes… No. It's the fact this guy doesn't stand up for himself. That's it. That's why I'm so angry._ And if he wasn't going to stand up for himself, then Natsu was going to do it for him. He decided. Besides, Gray was just taking it! His head hung down as the murky water dripped from his nose, as it clung to his uniform. His fists weren't clenched; his teeth weren't grinding against each other. He didn't even look angry.

"Oi!" Natsu snapped, running up to them. It must've been the promise of pain in his wild eyes that startled the students so much. Or, maybe it was the fact they got caught. Gray didn't budge. The pinkette stopped right next to Gray, trying not to gag from the horrible smell. He smelled like something rotting, but also something that belonged down a toilet. "What the hell are you doing? _All_ of you?"

One of the students rolled his eyes. "Well, would you look at this? Tenrou's adopted a little hero. If I were you, I'd learn something about the food chain here before you starting picking up trash."

Natsu stepped closer to the group of guys, and the one with dark brown hair puffed his chest out a bit, squaring his jaw. The pinkette shot him an incredulous look. "What, food chain? Really? All I see are a bunch of rich kids picking on another rich kid. You're all the same to me."

The students were threatening to roll their eyes again, one ready to retaliate, but the guy in front waved his hand dismissively. "If you knew what my father could do to—"

"Yadda yadda, my dad this, my mom that," Natsu cut him off with a huff. "What can _you_ do? Because all I see is a brat threatening me with his parent's money. Oh, I'm so scared!"

The student with dirty blonde hair pushed forward, his eyes glaring venomously at Natsu. "Hey, watch what your saying! I could have you out on the streets in minutes!" It looked like he wanted to say more, to shove his face in front of Natsu's in a sad attempt to seem intimidating, but the brunette put a hand on his shoulder.

"Your funeral. Let's go; we're done here anyways."

Natsu watched the students walk back to the main entrance before cutting his eyes to the silent guy next to him—no, now he was yanking a tree branch. He narrowed his eyes in frustrated confusion. _Maybe he's crazy._ "What are you…" Natsu trailed off when Gray's black backpack fell from its hiding spot in the leaves and thudded on the ground. "Oh."

"Well," the dark-haired teen glanced at Natsu once, and all he could stare at was the wad of wet bandaging surrounding Gray's swelled nose. He winced unconsciously. "Bye." Gray kept his head down as he strapped his backpack on and started towards the corner of McAllen. Natsu shook out of his stupor, blinking his eyes in shock. Because, for a second there, he thought this guy didn't have a voice. And to suddenly say something—

"Hey, wait! Hold on!" Natsu called out, snatching Gray by his backpack before he could walk any further. Gray tensed for a second and rolled his shoulder away to pull from Natsu's grip. "No, seriously, I'm not going to hurt you."

 _That_ made his head turn. An eyebrow rose in indifference. "Okay? Then, let go."

"What? I just saved your ass. Can't we talk? Besides, I've got some questions about what those assholes were saying," Natsu started, wiping his dirtied hand on his pants. Seriously, this guy needed a shower.

Gray fully turned towards him with a dull look. Natsu cocked his head. Was it just he, or did it look like the guy's freckles were running down his face? "No."

"No?"

"No," Gray repeated firmly. "You should listen to them and keep away from me. I'm handling this."

Natsu snorted loudly, crossing his arms across his chest. "Yeah, because _that_ was handling it."

The dark-haired boy shrugged his shoulder. "Agree to disagree. Bye." Gray briskly walked away this time, keeping his head down and never flinching at the jeers and complaints on his newly acquired stench.

Natsu scratched that back of his head. _What the hell._ Gray didn't act like someone being bullied—he wasn't jumpy or scared. Just in indifferent. And who the hell was Ultear? What the hell was a target system? Why did his dad have to send him here?

"Welcome to Tenrou," Natsu mumbled to himself before sauntering around the building himself.

.

 **A/N:** Tada! First chapter done! Believe it or not, this took way too long for me to sort out in my head. Tell me what you think so far (if the characters were too out of character—they might be like that for a bit—or the plot's boring, etc.)! Until next time!

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Extra Notes:

-Natsu's School Schedule-

Year: Junior

7:45AM: Homeroom (w/ Ms. Evergreen)

8:00 – 8:55 AM: Geometry (w/ Ms. Evergreen)

9:00 – 9:55 AM: World History (w/ Mr. Alzack Connell)

10:00 – 10:55 AM: English (w/ Mr. Freed Justine)

11:00 – 11:55 AM: Lunch Break

12:00 – 12:55 PM: Physics (w/ Ms. Laki Olietta)

1:00 – 1:55 PM: Physical Education (w/ Mr. Gildarts Clive)

2:00PM – 2:55PM: Broadening Horizons (w/ Mr. Jura Neekis)

*Students must conduct their independent studies on their own time. The school is open until 7:00 PM every school day (Monday to Friday) unless there is a special event planned.

**Tenrou Island Private High School has special permission to exceed the standard six-hour school day to enhance the minds of young individuals. The average school day is about 7 hours.


	2. Chapter 2

**Tales of Another Past**

 _By Faralyne_

Chapter 2: Tales of the Dream Fairy

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Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. You're lucky too. But, unfortunately, that's none of my business.

Summary: Natsu Dragneel didn't understand why, but it felt as if he knew these people from another time—another life. And, according to the fairy in his dreams, there was only one surefire way to find out. He had to reunite all of his alleged friends from the past. But, of course, this task would be next to impossible.

Specifics: Natsu x Gray. Natray. Alternate Universe (somewhat). Possible Loke x Lucy. One-sided Juvia x Gray. Possible one-sided Natsu x Lucy. Rated M.

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 _ **A/N:**_ _Oh wow, thanks so much for the favorites, follows, and reviews! Now to explain a concept:_

" _Oh my Zeref" instead of "Oh my God": Ooo, actually, this is pretty hard to explain without giving away some of the secret, building plot, haha. But, in this reality, Zeref is considered the god instead of, well, God. Everything else is mostly the same as our modern day real world._

 _Also, I apologize in advance. I know nothing about professional sports and their on/off seasons._

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Days Since Natsu's Transfer: 1

" _Follow your dreams. I am not saying it's going to be easy, but I am saying it's going to be worth it. –Moffat Machingura_

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 _This was not going well—_

 _Natsu barely scrambled to the side. His foot got caught in a patch of mud, and he scratched at the ground with growing claws for leverage. An increasing explosion of light incinerated the ground behind him._

— _at all._

" _Damn it!" he spat, grimacing at the grainy dirt in his mouth. He punched the ground. A high-pitched frequency screeched in his ears, and Natsu whipped his head towards the blinding light barreling in his direction. He lurched his body off to the side, rolling along the ground in the end. The white beam of light dug tunnels into the dirt._

 _They weren't exactly getting anywhere with this guy. Eon, the guy proclaimed himself as. He was some light-and-lightening-dragon-slayer wannabe and got embarrassingly angry when called so. Now, he had a personal grudge against Natsu. If only he could make an opening… The guy was horrible at close combat, vouching for long-range attacks to keep the team from getting too close. A hand fisted its way into the pinkette's muffler, yanking him centimeters away from another burst of boiling light._

 _A chilly hand smacked the back of his head. "Get your head out of the clouds!" Gray snapped from behind him, agitation biting his voice. He must've been just as frustrated as Natsu. Natsu roughly pulled his muffler out of Gray's hands. Like hell was he acknowledging Gray pulling him five seconds from death._

 _He whirled around to the ice mage, but held his tongue when this Eon-bastard_ split in two _. Again, there was now two of him to deal with. Erza flew passed them, charging at the second Eon-bastard and slicing through his middle. But, he was made of pure light. Of course. But, the Titania was just as frustrated as the rest of them, fueling her stubborn slashes and brute strength._

 _Juvia produced a cloud of rain to short-circuit both Eons. Glaring light exploded in every direction, climbing the rain and snaking along the wet ground. Gray was pushing away from Natsu before he even had a chance to ask why. But, he was too late. The winding light racked Juvia's body with surges of lightening. Her shrieking cry was enough to have Natsu beating Gray to her side._

" _Erza!" Gray called, and the redhead sprung into action. She summoned more swords, using them as a conductor and channeling the waves of lightening from Juvia to the sky. The blunette's eyes rolled into the back of her head, falling into Natsu's arms before she could hit the ground._

 _Sickly sweet laughter filled the air. Natsu snapped his head up to growl at the sky. Scattered light began to materialize on the ground, a single figure stepping out._

" _Well, that didn't work, now did it?"_

 _Natsu felt the anger building up inside of him, coiling and expanding, secreting from his insides. He stared down at Juvia's limp form—Gray's hand cradling her cheek, his trembling thumb stroking her paled cheek. Gray's face was void of emotion._

" _Listen here, you bastard…" Natsu snarled as he looked up at nothing._

 _Everyone was gone._

 _His hands grasped at the air in his arms, Gray's presence disappearing, Erza's rage dissipated. He knelt in a dense forest surrounded by tall trees with thick brush covering the land. Birds and bugs wailed around him. The sun was hot, trickling through the rustling leaves of the trees._

" _Wha?" Natsu questioned in a breathy voice. The thick air and noisy screeches swallowed up his words in a matter of seconds. He rose to his feet. The dragon slayer tried to scent for his friends—for anybody, really. But, all he could smell was the pungent woody aroma._

" _What the hell," he griped and picked a random direction. At least this way had a small, fading trail._

 _The confusion never left him. Where did his team go? Where did that Eon-bastard go? Where was_ he _? He groaned loudly. Natsu was never one for asking all the questions. That was Gray's job because it was so boring. He took the cool quests that ended in all-out brawls and bad-guy twists and exhilarating trials. Ones that tested his battle strategy and strength. His quick thinking._

 _Natsu followed the makeshift trail until the trees started to thin out and the brush dwindled to dirt and soft grass. A small lake appeared before him. Wisps of white fog hung over the dark water. And where did that bright sun disappear? The sky was a dull blue full of grey clouds. His nose twitched when he picked up a faint, flowery scent, like perfume. Natsu squinted his eyes at the lake, walking up to the shoreline to get a better look at the small figure standing in the middle, her back to him._

 _It was a girl. Standing on top of the water. Her light, long hair came down to her knees in waves, and she had no shoes. A light-colored dress covered her body._

" _Oi, you! Hey!" Natsu called out to her, but she didn't even budge. Not until he barely stepped in the dark water._

" _You shouldn't do that." Her voice was caring and warm, regardless of the threatening tone._

" _Huh?"_

" _Step in this lake. You shouldn't do that."_

 _Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn't tell if she was joking around with her back to him and all. The girl clasped her hands behind her back. "If you swim in this lake, you will drown and never come back, Natsu."_

 _A chill ghosted down his back. He clenched his hands into fists at the feeling, stepping away from the ominous lake. "How do you know my name? Who are you?" The girl finally turned around. A smile dawned her face at his appearance. She giggled._

" _I'm a fairy," she responded as if it held all the answers in the world. "And you, Natsu, I know all about you. About your family and friends, your hardships."_

" _What the hell?" The words slipped from Natsu's mouth before he could stop them. It was a little girl for crying out loud! His dad would kill him if he heard him use such language around kids… But still, how the hell did this girl know who he was? What he went through?_

 _Natsu glanced down as he started to tug at his scarf, only to find the cloth gone. Something close to frantic skittered around in his stomach, but he couldn't figure out why. He was standing in his Tenrou school uniform with his flaming backpack leaning against his calves. "Huh?"_

" _I doubt you remember me, I doubt you remember most of us and how important we all are to you. But, you've met the most important ones," she started, taking a single step closer. She reached her hand out, but decided against it. "You're stuck in a place you're not meant to be."_

 _Natsu snorted. "You got that right." It was going to take some time for him to get used to Tenrou and how his dad could just send him there without a second thought. But… The pinkette stared at the figure a little too far for his eyes to truly see. Did he know her?_

 _The girl shook her head. "You can't understand… not until you understand how important those you met—those you still must meet—are. You know who I'm talking about. You've seen them in your dreams."_

 _The pinkette was silent for a moment. He didn't know what to make of her words. He crossed and uncrossed his arms. Sure, he felt out of place at the school, but this girl meant something completely different. And he knew just whom she was talking about even if he didn't want to admit it. Natsu crossed his arms again. "Why should I believe you? Isn't this a dream?"_

 _The girl hummed. "That's a good question. You tell me."_

 _He furrowed his eyebrows, but stopped the quick answer on his tongue. "I don't know."_

" _Good. It's no fun if you start out with all the answers," she giggled more to herself. "But, here's a big tip. It will all become clear when you reunite your family, your friends. They are your cure. That is all I'm allowed to say, Natsu."_

 _Natsu narrowed his eyes in pure wonder, his mouth ajar. "Just… who are you?"_

 _The girl smiled once more._

" _I told you, silly. I'm the first fairy."_

.

Natsu woke up on the floor.

.

Maybe he was going crazy. Natsu thought to himself as he locked his bike on the ever-expensive school bike rack. It was possible. No one dreamt about guilds and magic, and then contemplated—wished, even—if it was real. Well, not anyone he knew at least. Crazy was starting to sound more believable than super powers, and even more believable than 'stuck in the wrong place' or whatever that girl in his alleged dreams was spouting.

And wasn't the little girl standing on top of the water? _On top of the water._ In all of the horror movies Natsu saw, little girls who did things like that should not be trusted. _Yup, do not trust the 'fairy' and her demonic drown-y lake._

Natsu crashed in his homeroom seat in Evergreen's class, glancing at the hunched over figure to his left. Gray was scribbling down something that looked like the kind of math Natsu didn't bother to understand—definitely not an overview of geometry—with all its weird symbols and letters. He poked Gray's arm. The nerd tensed, his shoulders bunched up, before slowly turning his head in Natsu's direction.

The pinkette mustered a toothy grin. "Morning!" Gray glared at him with dull eyes and promptly ignored him in favor of continuing his foreign scribble. Natsu's eye twitched. _This is why no one likes you._ He stuck his tongue out at the dark-haired teen in retaliation.

Crazy didn't explain how he knew the faces and names of random people in his class. Gray Fullbuster. Loke. Lucy Heartphilia. He was sure he'd never met those people before. Then, how was he able to conjure up some imaginary world with them in painstaking detail? And why did he recall the same dream during class as if a movie were playing in front of his eyes? And these dreams… _dream_ really wasn't the best word for it. Oh, he had a better word for it, but it made him sound even crazier. And probably impossible. The pinkette groaned and pillowed his head in his arms. _When did my mind turn into a philosophy? When do I ever think this much about things? This is crazy!_ The fairy girl told him to make nice with the people that stood out to him, right? Well.

…

Why the hell not?

Sure, she was some fake imaginary being in his dreams (probably). But, what did Natsu have to lose by making friends in a new school? And he was already sort of Loke's friend. And Gray talked to him once. It was a start. At least it would give him something to do since he wasn't leaving any time soon. _Loke. Yeah, let's start with him._

And maybe, just maybe, he'd get some answers for that weird flashback thing he had yesterday.

Natsu waved at the orange-haired teen when he walked through the door, but he was so preoccupied with Aries he didn't notice. Natsu rolled his eyes, plopping his hand on his cheek and waiting for Evergreen to briskly stride through the door. Except, she wasn't Evergreen.

A young teen with long, scarlet hair stood at the front of the class. A stony expression was set in her narrowed eyes and firm mouth. There was a bright blue band around her right bicep that read, "Junior Class President." The class hushed into nothingness.

Natsu glanced back at Loke and was surprised to see him sitting up straight with his hands folded on the desk. No flirting. No whispering in Aries' ear. Actually, he looked a little intimidated, considering the bead of sweat running down his forehead. Natsu raised an eyebrow. He looked to his left, and even Gray stopped writing to stare attentively at the class president. _All she does is walk in a room, and everyone's shitting their pants. I mean, she looks pretty strict, but who is she?_ The instant the thought blinked in his mind, it felt as if something was squeezing his stomach. The more he stared at her, the more he didn't want to know. The redhead cleared her throat.

"Good Morning, class 220G," she greeted in a booming voice. Just a greeting had the kid in front of Natsu jolting in his seat.

"Since it's homeroom, it's the most appropriate time to address some concerning problems with rule breakers," she stated. Her hands folded over one another in front of her uniform skirt. At one point, Evergreen slipped into the room, standing on the sidelines with her arms crossed and hip cocked out.

"Apparently, not all of us can comprehend the importance of Rule 71: no bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, or intimidation. I'm disappointed in all of you. Tenrou doesn't tolerate bullying of any type and frowns upon bystanders who don't act against it. These actions result in school punishment." When it seemed like the class was starting to ignore her, she slammed her fist against the chalkboard. White dust puffed out of the board and slowly settled on the ground. Natsu could only watch the irony of "no intimidation" as she intimidated everyone in the class to listen.

He glanced at Gray. Was this about yesterday? Did someone else see what happened and reported it? Because Natsu sure forgot to. Not that he'd really report that if he could stop the problem himself. The dark-haired teen's face stayed indifferent as if none of these words applied to him. _This guy is grating my nerves._

"… I will make it my personal mission to end bullying, or Zeref so help me. Thank you for your time," the class president finished, her voice lowering at her threatening resolve. She bowed deeply before marching back out of the class.

"I can't stand her," Natsu heard someone whisper.

"She scares the crap out of me," another mumbled.

Natsu swallowed. The tension in the room slowly disappeared as the bell rang and Evergreen started teaching. Sure, the class president was kind of intimidating. But, it was in a good way though. She was taking a stand for certain people who wouldn't. He smiled to himself. _Erza always acts like that. Like some sort of guardian._

Wait, what?

He lowered his head a bit to hide his face paling with clarity. _She was… She was another one—someone important._ His stomach knotted with tight strings of nostalgia, guilt, and confusion.

" _You can't understand… not until you understand how important those you met—those you still must meet—are. You know who I'm talking about. You've seen them in your dreams."_

The girl's words whispered in his ears. She was another important person like the other three.

She was Erza Scarlet.

Natsu wanted to laugh at how similar Dream Erza and this Erza acted. She _would_ be the class president here. He wanted to even more ignore the emotional twists in his stomach. The burning sensation prickling his eyes. He wanted to know why he was dreaming about these people and why they were so important to him. He needed to know why he couldn't outright ignore the words of the fairy in his dreams.

This was getting out of hand.

.

"Stop bringing dog food to our table," Loke huffed, making a swipe at Natsu's convenience store lunch. But, the pinkette was quicker this time around and smacked Loke's hands away.

"Dude, you can't keep buying me lunch, and I can't afford it. Really, it's not that bad," Natsu shrugged. He started shoveling food down his throat, but had to stop himself from grimacing. He never had a problem with Vinnie's lunches before. Never. He'd been eating them for as long as he could remember. But, today they tasted too grainy and watery, not seasoned and too processed. _Rich people food. Changing my taste buds._ Nevertheless, food was food. Natsu was nearly finished with his lunch by the time everyone sat down at the table.

"Oh, is this the scholarship boy you were talking about, Loke?" a tall girl spoke as she took out her boxed lunch. She had light blue hair that reached her curvy waist. Her eyes were ocean blue, and she proudly adorned a designer headband even though it was against the school dress code. She gave Natsu a quick once-over. "He's smaller than I imagined."

The pinkette's eye twitched as his eyebrows knitted together. Maybe he wasn't as tall as this Amazonian girl, but he wasn't short! Loke laughed, "Don't underestimate him! This guy could probably kick our asses to the moon and back." _Damn right._ Natsu grumbled in his mind.

"You Aquarius?" he asked, feeling slightly embarrassed calling her that nickname.

She grinned and snaked her arms around the flashy guy sitting next to her. "Yeah, and this is my boyfriend, Scorpio. _My boyfriend_."

 _Why did she say it twice?_

Scorpio nodded his head once, a crazy grin spreading across his face. "Cool meeting you."

"Did you give him the run down already? It's not like it matters much to me, but I don't want him bringing trouble to our table," Aquarius said in an almost threatening tone. Her sassy attitude seemed to rival Evergreen's, and Natsu wasn't sure he'd want to see those two ever fight.

Loke nodded, swallowing a bite of his eggplant and smoked-Gouda open-faced sandwich. "Yeah, pretty much. Oh man, but the demon president came to our homeroom today." Aries nodded fervently.

Virgo looked intrigued enough, so the orange-haired teen continued. "Yeah, she was spouting speeches about bullying. I think she made one of the girls upfront cry when she punched the chalkboard." Loke shuddered.

"She's still as scary as when a clueless me first hit on her."

"She's extreme," Cancer shook his head. That might have been the first time Natsu heard him talk.

"I bet she was talking about Gray. Someone gave him a bloody nose in gym… oh, and drenched him in some shitty water yesterday," Natsu spoke around a hefty burp. All head turned towards him as if he had the hottest gossip.

"Whoa, wait, what? What happened? And that nerd's in your gym class? That sucks," Loke said, instantly intrigued.

The pinkette growled to himself. " _Che_ , this asshole had it out for him on the volleyball court and spiked the ball into his nose. And only this blue-haired chick helped him out. It was kind of frustrating."

"What? Someone actually helped him out? Why would they?" Aquarius exclaimed, a little too astonished for Natsu's taste. _Why wouldn't she help him out? She's his friend. Unlike me._ Somehow, those thoughts left a bitter taste in the pinkette's mouth. He glared at Aquarius before he could stop himself. She deserved it anyways. She put her hands up in surrender. "Wow, sorry, I meant it in the best way. Ultear isn't too kind to people who help him out, so I'm just surprised."

"We're missing the important part!" Loke put his hand on Natsu's shoulder to get his attention. His eyes looked way too serious, and in the day Natsu knew him, it didn't suit him very well. Loke set his mouth in a firm line.

"Was the blue-haired girl cute?"

Natsu smacked Loke upside his head.

"That's not the point here! The point is no one really helped the guy out. And after school wasn't any better. I only saw it by accident. I should've punched those guys…" he trailed off to an angry grimace. Natsu looked around the table once he realized no one was talking.

"Natsu, I'm warning you. _Again_. Stay away from that guy. Ultear made an entire target system around him just so his life stays miserable. Now, I don't know why or what he did, but it can't be good," Loke advised in a stern tone.

"What's the big deal? What's with this target system? And Erza too! Why does everyone hate her?" This school was more complicated than Natsu thought. Well, maybe he should've known, considering these were some of the best minds and richest children around the world. Some of them were bound to be conniving and complex. However, if he wanted to befriend Gray—and everyone, really—he needed to know what the hell was up. _Geh, I feel like I'm preparing for battle._

Aquarius snorted, "You really don't know anything, do you? Long story short, the target system is that the poor bug caught in Ultear's web will suffer until he finally cracks and quits school. Or until Ultear chooses a different target. Anyone who associates, or worse, helps the target, will be one too. It's a real horrible time. Whatever you saw yesterday, that nerd's been dealing with it for as long as he's been here."

"What? That's stupid. Why doesn't he just fight back?" Natsu found himself snarling. So what if this Ultear chick was picking on Gray. He could go to the damn principal, or stand up for himself.

Aries shook her head, shyly looking up at Natsu. "I'm sorry, Natsu, but if it was that easy, it wouldn't be a problem. I don't know why Gray doesn't fight back. It could be because of power or money, or that he really did do something horrible to Ultear. She is not someone you want to hurt." Natsu snorted. He wasn't going to accept that as an answer. Gray didn't look like the kind of guy that went around hurting girls. And that was that. Dream Gray was extremely protective of his friends, and he was a good guy. _This is just…_

"This is stupid," Natsu mumbled, crossing his arms in frustration. He couldn't tell if the table agreed with him, but it was silent.

"Okay then!" Loke exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "That was a fun topic, but did anyone see the football game? This is just not Fiore's season, man."

"Oh, hell no. You know how much I hate football, Loke," Aquarius warned, cutting her eye over to the seemingly clueless playboy. She leaned her head against Scorpio's broad shoulder. "But, speaking of seasons, basketball's pretty much over now, right? How're you holding up, all-star?" A cheeky grin pulled over her face.

Natsu tried to keep his shock to a minimum. He didn't take Loke for a jock too. "You play?"

The orange-haired teen smirked confidently. He leaned to Natsu as if he were relaying a secret. "You're in the presence of Tenrou's best point guard. Gorgeous looks is one thing, but being a pro at a sport really brings all the sweet honeys in." The pinkette snorted.

Aquarius shook her head, "Sadly, he's not kidding. He's actually the best this school's had so far. Hah, but since the season's almost over, his outrageous fan base is starting to dwindle to the normal groupies."

Scorpio shook his head, a crazy grin on his face, "Not like he doesn't get to hang around Fiore's best professional women's b-ball team. Lucky bastard's luck never runs out!"

"Don't forget you promised us that you'd let us meet them soon," Cancer piped up in a smooth voice.

"Wait, wait, what?" Natsu finally cut in, his hands waving around just to grab everyone's attention. All this conversation did was tell him how much he didn't know about Loke, or any of them, really. He couldn't help the small humiliation of being out of the loop. "Why does Loke know those crazy awesome girls?"

Loke sighed, "It's for my independent study. I'm doing a survey on basketball-related injuries during their season. You see, the knee is the most common site of injury and the anterior cruciate ligament rupture accounts for a good amount of all basketball injuries reported. I look for correlations in different aspects of their lives and stuff. I'm just lucky they agreed."

… _What. Why does that sound so smart? They really are on another level…_ Natsu couldn't stop the impressed shock taking over his face. He clasped Loke's shoulder in a strong grip. "That's so cool! I didn't understand most of it, but you get to hang out with Fiore's best. Awesome!"

Aries giggled, "I know you are still getting used to this school, Natsu. But, do you have a study in mind?"

 _Independent study?_ Natsu forgot about that thing. Was this that talent thing Lauren was talking about? To be honest, he didn't really put much thought into it. Why would he want to stay after school—which was already too long—to do more school?

Natsu laughed nervously, "No, I didn't really think about it. What's the point of it anyways? It's not required, right?" By the horror in Virgo's eyes, he was strongly mistaken.

Aries shook her head fervently, "If you don't complete an independent study every grade, you can't graduate. And at the end of each grade, there is the Tenrou Symposium, where all the students must present their work to the public. It gets national coverage and attracts very important people from all around the world!"

 _Damn it, Dad._

"Seriously?" Natsu rubbed his eyes with his palms. Schoolwork that was too hard to comprehend. Befriending the people in his dreams. Making something of himself. His list of things to conquer wasn't getting any shorter. A giddy shiver shook his bones.

 _But, I appreciate it._

Because all Natsu saw were challenges. He complained enough about Tenrou. It was time to do something about it.

 _All right, I'm all fired up._

.

Though, the school things could wait a little longer. Finding the people in his dreams and getting to know them was more fun. It definitely wasn't because physics class killed his motivation. Natsu sighed. He mouthed off to Lauren about being smart, but learning really wasn't his strong suit. No, that wasn't right. Learning video games, street fighting, sports, how to stuff twenty marshmallows in your mouth—he didn't have a problem learning _fun_ things. But, physics? Geometry? World history? The boredom pecked out his eyeballs before he could even try.

He skipped the last half of physics by "going to the nurse's office" and loitered around the halls. This school really was huge. He was stopped several times by security guards, but since Ms. Laki forgot to put a time on the hall pass, he could keep pretending he just left her class.

Sauntering by a random academic achievement display, he noticed a particularly large photo of Gray propped against a huge, gold trophy. The dark-haired teen held a strained smile as he shook the hand of some old guy. Even the principal was standing next to him. _Geez, what did he do to have the principal tag along?_

" _National Association of Student Research's (NASR) High School STEM Conference_

 _First Place Award_

 _Gray Fullbuster's Research on Structural Transitions in Amorphous Water Ice_ "

Natsu whistled. There was a little card in front of the trophy with a summary of Gray's work that had Natsu's brain melting. "Hit-hitherto? …Used to explain hitherto anomalous properties—what the hell. Are these even words?" he mumbled to himself before turning away and stuffing his hands in his pants pockets. The pinkette walked down the hall only to stop in front of another display of sports achievements. Featuring Erza Scarlet. The entire display was dedicated to martial arts achievements and weaponry. There were multiple gold medals and plaques for bow staves, sword dancing, kendo championships, mixed martial arts—all for his junior class president. _Scary…_ Natsu finally understood why everyone was terrified.

The bell for gym rang shortly after Natsu's exploration, and he was satisfied to figure out which way it was this time around. He had his gym clothes, so he could actually participate. Natsu smiled excitedly to himself. _What's it going to be today? Football? Lacrosse? Basketball? Man, it would've been cool to challenge Loke to a one-on-one game if he was in my class._ Natsu thought as he sauntered into the large locker room. Rows of person-sized gym lockers lined the dark blue and white walls, equipped with nameplates of the students occupying the locker during each period. Sleek metal benches followed the rows of lockers. There was an opening in the back wall for the bathroom and shower stalls.

The pinkette quickly found his locker and swapped his clothes while the rest of the male students piled into the locker room. He joined the students already walking on the track. Mr. Gildarts was lying down on the bleachers with an arm thrown over his eyes, probably to block out the bright ceiling lights. His student representative was standing next to him with a small loudspeaker.

"Attention Section 5, Mr. Gildarts assigned today as another free day. You will run along the indoor track and use the track and field equipment. That is all," the representative ordered, but cut his speech short when the hung-over gym teacher started waving him away.

"Man, your voice is so loud… Go run along now… Ah, I should've left after a few hours," he whined in a voice too old to sound so childish.

 _Argh, don't tell me he's only going to have free days? At least make us play a sport or something._ Natsu pouted, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked along the track alone. He didn't really know anyone in gym class. Honestly, Loke was probably his only friend at Tenrou. He had been so preoccupied with trying to befriend the people in his dreams, the pinkette never thought of socializing with anyone else. _Wait a second… isn't Gray in this class?_ Natsu whipped his head around and scanned the area until his spotted the familiar greasy mop of slicked-back hair. _I'll bother him!_ The pinkette jogged around the track, a muffled mischievous cackle leaving his mouth.

But, he slowed down when he realized Gray was walking with that blue-haired girl. Well, it looked more like he was trying to walk away from her and she was desperately matching his pace, babbling a one-sided conversation Natsu was too far away to hear. Like a ninja assassin, he sneaked closer to the pair, enough so he could catch the shy-but-excited words of the blunette. _Time for some reconnaissance!_

"…Professor Laki complimented Juvia's research today. I-it made Juvia really happy to know Juvia's on the right track," she stuttered slightly, fiddling with her hands behind her back. She glanced shyly up at the disinterested teen next to her. "Juvia's not as smart as Gray-sama, so trying to understand convective heat transfer and flow friction for water flow is really hard. B-but, Professor Laki thinks Juvia can do it!"

 _Doing something like that, isn't this Juvia girl smart enough?_ Natsu wondered why the blunette was talking about some other girl so proudly. At the same time, it didn't really feel like that…

"That's great, Juvia," Gray drawled, staring a hole into the floor when he realized he wasn't escaping this girl any time soon. Natsu nearly stumbled over his feet. _She talks about herself in third person. Wow._ Juvia beamed up at the nerd and giggled. Natsu could only wonder how Gray landed such a pretty girl as his friend. Juvia was slender with dark blue eyes and pretty pale skin. Blue hair fell in thick waves past her shoulders. Her curvaceous body rivaled Evergreen's, and Natsu questioned if all these smart and rich girls looked like models.

She looked like she could have any friend she wanted, so why Gray? He didn't look interested in her at all. Actually, he looked annoyed. _This asshole has a nice friend, and this is how he treats her?_ Maybe he was wrong about this guy.

"Gray-sama… are you feeling all right? You seem a little out of it." Juvia's worried voice brought Natsu from his thoughts. "Does your nose still hurt? It looks a bit swelled and red. Um, we can go to the nurse's office. O-or maybe we can ask Mr. Gildarts to take a break. Gray-sama's complexion—"

"—I'm fine, Juvia. I'm just… going to use the bathroom," Gray swiftly cut off the rambling girl and nearly ran to the boy's locker room. The blunette stared after him for a moment before nervously fiddling with her fingers and resuming her slow walk around the track. Alone.

Natsu perked up a bit. _Chance!_ He jogged over to the boy's locker room as well. _Wait… would this be weird? Starting a random conversation in the bathroom? It's not like we're girls or something…_ Natsu contemplated. He didn't know how to handle Gray. He wasn't as honest as Loke, not friendly either. Scratch not being able to handle playboy types, Gray types were worse. He ran a hand down his face, but found his confidence anyways. It was only one guy, how hard could this be?

Sneaking might not have been Natsu's strong point. Not when his big toe connected with the corner of one of the bench supports while searching for a certain someone. His eye twitched and his body jerked backwards before he sunk to the ground to cradle the damage throbbing profusely on his foot.

" _Fuck…_ " Natsu started to shout, but it bubbled out to a pained breath between gritted teeth. Something crashed around in the bathroom until Gray peeked his head around the opening with a tissue to his nose. For a moment, they stared at each other silently as Gray stepped out into the opening. It was too quiet. Natsu scratched the back of his head, trying to rack his brain with something to say. _Nice weather we're having—no, why would I say that? Besides, it's still cold. Why am I so nervous?_ It wasn't like he was standing in front of the whole school in his underwear or something.

"So…" Natsu tried, but Gray cut him off.

"Why are you… oh, the bathroom. I'm blocking the entrance," Gray spoke in a slight mumbling tone. He dipped his head down as he tried to walk around the pinkette.

"Hey, wait up—uh." Natsu shot up to his feet, ignoring the protest in his big toe. He gripped the dark-haired teen's shoulder. And earned one of the coldest stares he had ever seen. _How the hell do people bully this guy?_ Albeit, the stare was greatly dulled by his geeky appearance, but if he only stared into his eyes… Natsu suppressed the cold shiver down his spine.

"Er, no, that's not… you sick or something?" the pinkette randomly asked, letting his hand slide off of Gray's shoulder. Gray furrowed his eyebrows before he realized he was still holding a tissue to his nose. He quickly huddled towards a trashcan and blew his nose. He sniffled a bit, rubbing at his reddening nose.

"No."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Is that your favorite word or something? 'Cause, dude, you suck at lying." Natsu wasn't sure if Gray was always this pale, but he was sure his eyes looked a little red and were sporting some bags underneath.

A dull look crossed Gray's features. He crossed his arms. "So? It doesn't matter if I'm sick or not since it's none of your business."

Natsu tried to ignore the frustration starting to boil in his stomach. _Why is he acting so defensive?_ "Whoa, what's your problem? If you're sick, then go to the damn nurse, smartass. Look, being the awesome person I am, I'll even go with you." A smug grin tugged at his face unwillingly. _I'm such a nice person._

"…"

The pinkette raised a confused eyebrow. He couldn't tell if Gray looked overly cautious or annoyed by the frown setting on his face and dragging any gratefulness with it. Gray just stayed quiet.

"What?"

 _No, that's disgust._ The dark-haired teen narrowed his eyes. "That's _my_ question. I can't tell if you're a self-righteous idiot or trying to trick me. Whatever the reason, quit trying to act nice when you'll end up just like the rest of them. Let me be."

Natsu's hands shot up in mock surrender. Though, Gray never stopped his speculative glare. _Self-righteous idiot—this guy really is irritating._ "Dude, I'm just offering to take you to the nurse. I'm not handing you a year's supply of premium roast beef or something. Nothing to have that stick up your ass for."

Gray's eye twitched.

"Then, it's nothing to concern yourself with. _I'm_ nothing to concern yourself with," Gray accented the word as if that would make Natsu wake up and throw in the towel. As if he was saving him from a load of pain later on. _Well, I'm more stubborn than you think._

"That blue-haired girl thinks different," Natsu pointed out.

Gray blinked in surprise. "What? Juvia?" He snorted as if the thought were almost amusing. "She doesn't count."

Natsu's mouth set in a thin line as he tried to snub the boiling frustration. Everything this guy said was grating on his nerves. He was an asshole.

"The hell! Yes she does," Natsu shouted, closing his hands into fists. "What is wrong with you?" But, Gray didn't rise to his agitation.

"She doesn't count because no one cares about her either."

"Huh?"

The dark-haired teen sighed, swiping a finger under his nose. "I'm leaving before Mr. Gildarts thinks I skipped class," he quickly stated, completely ignoring the questions in Natsu's eyes. Gray turned on his heel and was out of the boy's locker room as fast as Natsu could blink.

"Wha—wait—oi!"

Natsu was left with the unsettling urge to strangle him.

.

Extra Notes (2):

-Gray's School Schedule-

7:45AM: Homeroom (w/ Ms. Evergreen)

8:00 – 8:55 AM: Geometry (w/ Ms. Evergreen)

9:00 – 9:55 AM: Advanced Creative Writing (w/ Mr. Reedus Jonah)

10:00 – 10:55 AM: AP Fiore Culture (w/ Mr. Alzack Connell)

11:00 – 11:55 AM: Lunch Break

12:00 – 12:55 PM: AP Science, Engineering and Technology (w/ Ms. Bisca Connell)

1:00 – 1:55 PM: Physical Education (w/ Mr. Gildarts Clive)

2:00PM – 2:55PM: AP Calculus II and Analytical Geometry (w/ Mr. Mest Gryder)

*3:00PM – 4:30PM: Independent Studies (Ice Sculpture and Formation Research)

*Students must conduct their independent studies on their own time. The school is open until 7:00 PM every school day (Monday to Friday) unless there is a special event planned.

**Tenrou Island Private High School has special permission to exceed the standard six-hour school day to enhance the minds of young individuals. The average school day is about 7 hours.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tales of Another Past**

 _By Faralyne_

Chapter 3: Tales of Lucy Heartfilia

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Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. You're lucky too. But, unfortunately, that's none of my business.

Summary: Natsu Dragneel didn't understand why, but it felt as if he knew these people from another time—another life. And, according to the fairy in his dreams, there was only one surefire way to find out. He had to reunite all of his alleged friends from the past. But, of course, this task would be next to impossible.

Specifics: Natsu x Gray. Natray. Alternate Universe (somewhat). Possible Loke x Lucy. One-sided Juvia x Gray. Possible one-sided Natsu x Lucy. Rated M.

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 ** _A/N:_** _Hello readers! I'm so glad to get good feedback from the story. And I love to know you have theories about the story too. I just want you all to keep an open mind and catch any hints I be dropping. I think the story is more geared towards 25-30 chapters (maybe) now, so I've still got a long way to go._

 _And holy shit. I apologize for these extremely slow updates, but my life took an all-expense-paid trip to Hell without a return ticket. I apologize for any future slowness. If it helps to remember what happened so far, I'd go back and skim the previous two chapters, haha._

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Days Since Natsu's Transfer: 2

 _Lately, I've been losing sleep_

 _Dreaming about the things that we could be_

 _But, I've been praying hard_

 _Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars_

 _I see this life like a swinging vine_

 _In my face is flashing signs_

 _Seek it out and ye shall find._

 _–_ _Counting Stars by OneRepublic_

.

 _"_ _Come on, Natsu!" Lucy urged._

 _She ran back towards him in light steps and seized one of the hands clasped behind his head. Her traditional sandals clanked against the stone walkway. She was pouty and impatient. Excited and innocent. Natsu grinned._

 _"_ _It's not like we can be late to this sort of thing. What's the rush?" he asked with a shrug._

 _Lucy huffed, "Of all the times you want to be slow. If we come too late, then we can't see all the vendors before the shower! Come on!" She tugged at Natsu's hand and led him towards the growing chatter and laughter, the bright lanterns, and the smell of grilled deliciousness._

 _It was the Festival of Stars after all._

 _Every two years, a festival will appear for a single night to bring celebration and happiness to Magnolia. It was created to watch the stars and appreciate their beauty. And every time, without fail, a meteor shower will commence. It was the reason Lucy was so dressed up in her starry night yukata that seemed to blend with the night and make her glow at the same time. She had her hair done up in an intricate bun and glittering earrings dangling from her ears._

 _"_ _All right, all right," Natsu gave in and picked up his speed to match her steps. If they ran any faster, Lucy would surely trip on her yukata. "Let's go have some fun!"_

 _The festival was a long walkway with vendors lined up on both sides. There were so many trinket booths, magic shops, food venders, and games that it was impossible to not be excited. Natsu could hardly see the end where they were going to sit along the grass and watch the sky. Lucy tugged on the pinkette's sleeve fervently._

 _"_ _Oh, look, that vender has a 'make your own magical key keychain' craft! Let's do that," the celestial spirit mage squealed as she tugged the dragon slayer over to the cute stall._

 _They ended up making matching key chains before whisking off to see the other booths. There were moon cookies and cakes, zodiac plush animals, connect the constellation games—so many booths that had Lucy's chocolate eyes shimmering with delight. And Natsu was particularly fired up for the flaming-star-meat-eating contest._

 _After the contest, the pair crashed on the grassy hill with their prizes and memories. Natsu rubbed his stomach in satisfaction. "Thanks for inviting me, Lucy. This was so much fun!" Lucy glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, a smile softly gracing her face. She stared up at the night sky glittering with countless stars._

 _"_ _It's not over yet, Natsu. You still haven't seen the best part," she replied in almost a whisper. "My mother used to take me to the festival sometimes. It's just something you can't forget."_

 _Natsu stared at Lucy's face, a small blush of wonderment dusting her cheeks._

 _"_ _So, what is a meteor shower?" he asked suddenly, watching Lucy's smile widen._

 _"_ _Some people try to spoil their mystery by calling them glorified rocks plummeting from the sky, but I don't think so. There's a tale my mother used to tell me… that the meteors are actually falling stars sent to travel around the world and grant your most honest wishes." Lucy turned her smile to Natsu and raised a hand to flick his forehead._

 _"_ _So you better not forget to make a wish!" she giggled when the pinkette stuck his tongue out at her. A sigh escaped her lips. "Knowing you, it'll probably be for an endless supply of Mira's flaming meat."_

 _The dragon slayer froze in shock. "Lucy's a mind reader!"_

 _The blonde covered her mouth as an uncontrollable laugh seeped out. "I was just guessing!" But, as the first light in the sky dove across the sky, her laugh faded into a captivated look._

 _"_ _It's starting! Natsu!" She grasped Natsu's hand and squeezed once. An embarrassed blush tickled her cheeks as she dipped her head a bit._

 _"_ _I wish… I wish that I can continue to make memories with my friends."_

 _Natsu stared at his friend, his heart clenching at her words. A wide smile brightened his face and he squeezed her hand back, bringing it up to reach for the racing sky. "That's a great wish, Luce! I promise I'll work with the stars to make it come true."_

 _The blonde chuckled, turning her gaze back to the sky. "I wonder why I can believe that so easily… Ah, don't forget your wish too." Oh, he almost forgot. Well, what could he wish for? He had to hurry before the stars were gone._

 _"_ _I wish—"_

—BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!—

Natsu blinked owlishly, staring blankly at the creamy white ceiling. Finally, his emotions caught up to him, and he slammed an angry fist on the alarm clock's off button.

"I wish for this damn thing to disappear," he grumbled to the heavens as he heaved his body into a sitting position. Natsu stared at his hands. The jitters from the dream hadn't left if his trembling fingers had any say in the matter. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and yanking at the knots.

This was the first dream he had with only Lucy, and it was something else. He swallowed. The protective feelings to make her wish come true hadn't faded from his heart at all. All his dreams of that world were like that. The fight with Gray in the guild left him thinking his hands were burning even though they looked as normal as ever. The talk with the dream fairy left him so confused he was questioning his own name when he woke. And it was becoming hard not to think of everyone in his dreams as his friends, his family. He didn't know everything from that dream world, but the bits and pieces were ridden with such strong, irrepressible emotions. Ones that followed him even when he was awake, like a repentant ghost.

Everyone in his dreams worked so well together. They clicked in their own destructive ways. And Natsu wanted to have that so badly. He couldn't convince himself to believe the people in his dreams and the ones in reality were the same. Neither could that dream fairy. That would be crazy. But, he could wish, right? Besides, it wasn't like these dreams were making it easy for Natsu to stop wishing for it anyways. It was like every single one persuaded him just a little bit more.

Finally, his jitters subsided, his hands as steady as they always were.

.

"Morning," Natsu grinned at the hunched nerd already sitting in his homeroom seat. It was funny watching Gray's bored but focused face morph into a scowl. The bell rang as soon as the pinkette dropped into his seat, and he winced at the loud blare. Natsu continued to stare at the dark-haired teen, waiting for some sort of reply or acknowledgment that Natsu did in fact exist. Gray didn't spare a glance and continued to read the calculus book on his desk. A single pink eyebrow rose. _This guy._

"Hey, you, oi." He poked Gray's arm repeatedly. "Rude. I'm going out of my way to greet you, and you ignore me. That hurts, right here," Natsu feigned offense while placing a hand over his heart. Gray flipped a page.

"Coldhearted asshole."

Natsu crossed his arms and slumped back in his seat, looking towards the door as Loke and his posse of girls waltzed in. For a second there, he swore he heard Gray sigh and saw the teen's bunched shoulders drop a bit. Like it was killing him to be social. He gave Natsu a reluctant sideways glance.

"Good morning," barely grumbled past Gray's lips.

Natsu couldn't stop the shit-eating grin splitting his face. He turned right back towards Gray, his body oozing victory and smugness. That's what he'd call progress.

"Now, was that so hard?" he asked, and Gray rolled his eyes and looked back down at his textbook.

The pinkette didn't get a chance to push further since first period started, and Evergreen was reviewing for their big test next week. Natsu forced himself to listen to the math drawl, not at all dozing off several times. English and world history suffered the same fates. However, he couldn't help but think about his recent dream in English. Maybe because they were analyzing the differences in modern fairy tales as opposed to the originals. _That dream felt like a fairy tale, that's for sure._ Lucy had that effect on people. Wrapping them in her kind magic. _And Lucy—well, the one in my dreams—she's a princess, I think. Princess Lucy Heartfilia. 'S got a ring to it._ But, when was the last time he talked to her? The real one. Natsu scratched the back of his head. Not that much time had passed by. Maybe two days since he transferred to Tenrou. _It feels like it's been a week. All the shit I learned about these people._ Though, out of the first people he recognized from his dream, she was the one he didn't really talk to at all.

He has to change that.

When the lunch bell rang, he put his plan in action.

"Loke!" Natsu called, squeezing through the little fan-girl wall that surrounded him. They were not happy with his sudden appearance by the deathly glares he received. "Hey, I need your help on something." The orange-haired teen raised an eyebrow, letting his arms slip from around two brunettes' waists. One of them instantly huffed, not even hiding her frustration towards Natsu.

Before Loke barely opened his mouth, one of the brunette's wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her body into his. "Loke," she whined, dragging out his name. "Come on, let's skip lunch today and go have some fun behind the greenhouse."

The playboy's eyes gleamed, and Natsu smacked his head hard enough to jostle his sunglasses. "This is important, so back off," Natsu barked, grabbing the back of Loke's collar and pulling him away from the group of girls cursing the pinkette out.

"Dude…" Loke almost whined as they turned the corner and started towards the cafeteria. "You're such a cockblock."

Natsu cut his eye at him and debated on smacking him again. " _Dude_ , you're surrounded by girls every day. You can spare a measly hour," he threw back and smacked the teen anyways. "And you _still_ were going to choose her!"

Loke tried to glare at the frustrated pinkette, but it fell into a lazy smile. He slid his hands into his pants pockets. "Let's be real here. Any sane man would choose the hot, willing girl over a friend. … _What_? I'm a lady's man at heart."

"Playboy at heart."

"I think you mispronounced, 'gentleman,'" Loke shot right back, the smile growing. "All right, what's the problem anyways? It better be worth it."

Remembering his initial purpose, Natsu lit up.

"Today, we're changing things up." And Loke was all ears.

.

When Natsu and Loke took the cafeteria seats across from Lucy, she stopped chewing her lunch completely. Her face morphed from confusion to annoyance in a split second. A single blonde eyebrow lifted in silent question. Natsu just smiled in return. He had to talk to her—to be friends and make her wishes come true. He didn't care if he was mixing up Lucy and Dream Lucy now. He was connected to these people somehow, and getting closer to them was the only way he would ever find out why.

At least Loke was here to make this easier.

"Hi," Natsu greeted, but his voice sounded a little too strained with giddy excitement. He internally groaned, berating himself for sounding like a prepubescent boy. Maybe he was expecting too much from befriending Lucy, and it was making him nervous. Or maybe _she_ was just making him nervous. _Come on, Dragneel._ Loke gave him a sideways glance, snickering quietly. The playboy wore an amused smirk before reaching out his hand to shake.

"Hello, my lovely Lucy. I'm sure you've heard of me, and I _definitely_ want to hear more about you… but I'm Loke, and this pink idiot is Natsu," he introduced with a wink-turned-wince at the quick jab to his stomach.

"I'm not an idiot!"

Loke narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the transfer student. "Anyone who interrupts me and my sweet honeys is an idiot," he whispered back, but returned to Lucy with a charming smile. Lucy stared at the both of them for a moment, almost like she was trying to surmise them. The wariness deepened her brow a bit, but she gave in, shaking Loke's hand once. A small sigh escaped her pink lips.

Natsu huffed at Loke's smug smile. Even though the reason he wanted Loke to sit with him was because of his charisma, it was still frustrating how easily girls swarmed him. Still, every time Natsu tried to talk to Lucy—or even look at her sometimes—he would get glared down as if he were some kind of predator. _And Loke—the_ real _predator—has no trouble at all._ His cheeks puffed in discontent.

Lucy's blue-haired friend sat next to her, but she was lost in her own world with a guy Natsu was sure he could take, but rather not get mixed up with. Not with his pointy teeth and face full of piercings. Apparently, smart and rich people came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, Natsu noted. _Well, it's not that surprising anymore. Not when all the girls attending look like models._

Lucy looked towards her friend, but she was too focused on the flirty whispers in her ear to notice. She rested her cheek on her palm and begrudgingly turned her attention back to the playboy.

"Anyways, you don't mind if we sit here, right? Since Natsu's a lonely boy transfer student and all. He has no friends. It's sad, really," Loke asked, although they already took the seats. Lucy's eyes flickered towards Natsu, and he swore he saw pity. And a hint of a smile.

"I'm not a lonely boy! Lucy, everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie," the pinkette tried to reason and aimed another jab at Loke. The playboy dodged this time, his whole body rolling away as he laughed.

"It's fine. It's just a seat," she stated quietly and popped a cherry tomato in her mouth. She turned her head to the side, blatantly trying ignore the teens sitting on the other side of the table.

"Cool," Natsu grinned and pulled out his own lunch. At least Lucy didn't criticize it like Loke had. She didn't even look at it. "You're in my class too. We're in the same geometry and broadening horizons."

"Yeah… I _know_. It's kind of hard to forget someone with pink hair."

Natsu blinked, trying to figure out if that was a compliment or an insult. But, then Loke laughed. "Hey! What's wrong with pink hair?" the pinkette huffed.

"Nothing, dude. You do you. It's just not a common thing," Loke pipped up.

"Says the guy with bright orange hair."

"Chicks dig it."

Natsu snorted.

"No, they don't," Lucy surprisingly intervened, popping another tomato in her mouth in a deceivingly innocent way. The pinkette thought she was taking Loke's side, but she wasn't on anyone's side except hers in this conversation. And that fact made him happier than he expected. Loke jolted back like he'd been shot, gingerly placing a hand over his heart.

"Lucy, you wound me, right here," he patted over his heart with a pathetic look on his handsome face.

"About time you got knocked off your high horse," Natsu mumbled lightheartedly. "So what? You going to dye it now you know what girls really think, or are you going to keep looking like a basketball?"

"This hairstyle has swooned many sweet honeys, so no," Loke huffed. "And in no way do I look like a basketball. Don't be jealous just because I'm a better player than you. It's pretty common here."

"In your dreams! Anytime, anywhere, and I'll swipe that 'best player' title right out from under you," Natsu laughed, but it felt a little forced when he remembered his dream from the first day he transferred here. Loke was a good friend, especially since he was the first one to talk to him. But, the pinkette couldn't help the sour feeling from not having the same bickering best friend from his dreams. He knew the people in his dreams didn't act the same way as the ones in real life. He knew that, yet he still felt… disappointed? No, that wasn't the word. Guilty? Reminiscently dejected? He wasn't sure. It just wasn't a great feeling that settled well in his stomach.

Loke waved a hand in his face, "Is anyone in there?"

Natsu stuck his tongue out and smacked the hand away. "So, what do you guys do for fun?" he changed the subject quickly, deliberately ignoring Loke's slightly worried look.

"Define, 'fun,'" Loke quickly responded, a sly grin growing on his lips. He had that glint in his eyes again. "If you mean fun at school, we've got a hell of a lot of school spirit. Since basketball's over, lacrosse is the popular sport now. If you mean around Tenrou, well, it's kind of lacking except for the Warehouse parties. And me, _personally_ …" Loke's smile rivalled the Cheshire Cat.

"Ask any of my sweet honeys."

Natsu rolled his eyes, but the amusement on his face dulled the effect. "Alright playboy, we get it. What's the Warehouse?" The pinkette had a feeling it was some hangout place for rich kids, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. _It sounds lame._

"I don't think you're ready for that yet, transfer boy," Loke answered with a chuckle.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She stood up, gathering her things and glancing at her phone. The screen was filled with unread texts and social media messages. "Well, this was nice," she drawled, so much sarcasm dripping from her voice that Natsu winced. "But, I need to go." She glanced at her side where the oblivious couple was—used to be. Natsu didn't notice they slipped away.

 _But, that's not important right now._ Natsu shook his head, jumping to his feet as well. "Hey, wait!" The pinkette always had trouble controlling the volume of his voice, but he never thought it carried so much to have tables of students staring at them. He swallowed against his throat. This was the real reason he wanted to sit with Lucy. "What are you doing tonight at seven?"

"What." Her reply was so fast, it didn't even sound like a question. Actually, it sounded more like a guarded warning. Lucy's chocolate eyes leveled with Natsu's obsidian ones.

The pinkette motioned to the both of them. "Let's do something together—all three of us. It's Friday after all," he explained, the excitement bouncing inside him. He thought that maybe if Lucy gave them a chance, they could really be friends. And he had the perfect place to go, but he wanted it to be a surprise. Because Loke kept talking, he never heard the fun things Lucy liked to do. _But, I have an idea._ To see Lucy's eyes brighten with happiness in real life—that was becoming a goal along with this dream mystery mission. "There's this place near my place—on Fifth Street, if you people don't know where—and I think you'd like it. It'll be fun!"

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the two before glancing around at the students trying not to blatantly stare. She sighed. "I hoped you were different," she whispered so softly, Natsu wasn't sure he heard her right.

"Huh?" he tried, but Lucy just scoffed and stepped out of her seat.

"Nothing. Yeah, sure, seven. Whatever," she agreed halfheartedly and left.

.

It honestly, took a little longer to convince Loke to come too. Not until after he chewed Natsu out about how he already had plans, but 'to make plans with _Lucy'_. It apparently wasn't a fair choice. Natsu quickly switched from his all-out sprint to a light jog as he turned the corner of Fifth Street. He didn't want to be late after all. Happy demanded all of his attention, and he almost lost track of the time. Once he spotted the old, rundown electronics store, he saw Loke greeting Lucy a few feet away from it.

The pinkette couldn't help the tiny smile picking at his face. Maybe it was from the excitement of hanging out or the fact that they looked so damn out of place in his town. He could barely hide the snicker. _Seriously, who stands near a rundown store with a Louis Vuitton handbag (don't ask how I know this) or the most expensive Air Jordan's I've ever seen?_ Natsu just shook his head and waved at them.

"Hey, guys, you ready?" he beamed, hopping in his spot. He looked directly at Lucy, sincerity washing over his eyes. "I'm really glad you came. You're going to have so much fun, I promise."

Loke waved his hand in front of Natsu's determined face, "Hey, yeah, I'm here too. What exactly did you have in mind? Because I had to cancel _all_ my plans with Carol, Stephanie, and Kira, thank you very much. So, it better be damn praiseworthy."

The pinkette rolled his eyes and swatted Loke's hand away. "Dude, relax. They'll still be your fan girls on Monday. Besides, how many times can you say you've hung out with Lucy? None before now!" He smacked a hand on each of their backs and pushed them towards Sixth Street with a wide smile on his face. "Now, come _on_! We're going to be late." Except, Lucy wasn't having it.

She pinched Natsu's hand off of her back and turned to face them, arms crossing over her chest. "Um, no. First of all, don't touch me. Second, don't feel so special we're doing this. You're not my first guy. Third, I'm leaving. I don't feel like entertaining your egos tonight. Go tell your friends whatever you want them to think happened tonight happened. I don't care what you tell them, but we aren't dating, and I don't do the same guy twice," she clarified in a tight, mechanical voice. Almost rehearsed.

Natsu scratched his cheek, "Wait, what're you talking about?" He looked to Loke, but the orange-haired teen stayed quiet for once. Lucy scoffed, shifting in her spot awkwardly.

"Do I have to spell it out? I'm not having sex with you guys, so I don't feel the need to be here anymore." She started off in the opposite direction, tightening her hold on her purse.

And Natsu swore he could taste gravel in his mouth as his jaw dropped to the ground. His mind blanked for a second before it started screaming in complete and utter confusion. The pinkette looked at Loke, hoping shock wasn't the only expression on his face.

"…"

"…"

Finally, his mind rebooted. "Wait, what? No, Lucy, hold up!" Natsu caught up with the blonde, stepping in front of her path with his hands massaging his temples. "Wait, what?" She didn't actually think they called her out for sex. That was impossible, right? Some sort of sick joke? _Then, why would she come?!_ Natsu stared at the impatient girl in front of him. _She's not kidding._

Loke's eyes cut towards the pinkette, dancing in a way Natsu needed to stop immediately. "You, no, don't even think it, Loke," he cut in quickly, snapping his fingers at the playboy.

Lucy cocked her head to the side, shifting in her spot. "What's your problem? I don't care if you go brag to your friends, but I'm _not_ doing anything."

"Ah, Natsu's still a lonely boy without friends so he has no one to brag to," Loke pointed out, clearly amused by the whole situation. Natsu just shook his head until his brain started tumbling too.

"No. Lucy, what made you think we were going to… to take advantage of you like that? What kind of messed up conclusion is that? The hell? Did you eat something weird?" Natsu finally said, getting his jumbled mind to put thoughts into coherent words.

"Because you randomly started talking to me! You asked me to meet you in this rundown area, _and_ you didn't tell me why," she pointed out easily, though it looked like a vein popped on her forehead. "Seriously, it's wasn't hard to piece it together. I hope you don't think you're the first guy just because you're new here."

Natsu debated on telling Lucy why he really brought her out here to prove her wrong… but then he'd ruin the surprise. Ruin the moment her eyes would light up like in his dreams. The pinkette ran a hand through his hair. "Lucy, I didn't call you out here for that. I just want to be friends, I swear."

The blonde was about to counter, but Loke just burst out laughing. His full-on laughter sounded so out of place on the shadowy, sketchy sidewalk. Natsu was almost nervous. Lucy's face lit up with embarrassment, and Natsu wondered if she was finally considering she was wrong. Loke flicked away a tear, a satisfied smile on his face, "Babe, even though I've only known this guy for like a day, there's no way he'd do that. I mean I don't even know why we're here, but sex never crossed my mind—and I've got a pretty good knack for sniffing that out."

Lucy shifted in her spot again, trying to turn her burning face away from them. "Then, why am I even here? Where are we going?" she asked snappily, trying to sound angry amidst all of her discomfiture.

"Well, if we can hurry, I'll show you," Natsu offered, holding out his hand. His obsidian eyes stared at her in uneasy expectation. Lucy's shoulders slumped. She glanced at Loke for a moment before clasping her hand in Natsu's.

"Okay."

"Yes! Okay, we got to go!" Relief washed over the pinkette's face, and he grabbed Loke's wrist with his free hand, nearly dragging the two to their destination. There was still a line outside of the small dome-like building, so they couldn't have been too late. It looked almost mysterious, wrapped in the dark of the night and a light sheen of the moon. Dark, hexagonal glass fit together on the dome like pieces of a puzzle.

Lucy glanced wide-eyed at the building. "Is this… is this a—"

"—a planetarium," Loke finished firmly, pulling his hand out of Natsu's vice grip. He kept his head down, pushing his sunglasses up a bit. When he looked up again, there was a wide smile on his face. "Listen, something came up, and I can't go anymore. Have fun." He spoke fast.

"Wai…" Natsu started, but the orange-haired playboy had already darted down the street. They stared after him for a moment. _What the hell was that about?_ Natsu hadn't spent so long trying to convince Loke to come for him to bail at the last possible minute. _Does he hate planetariums or something?_ Natsu didn't hear anything about that before. Granted, he only got to know him since he transferred, and Loke wasn't the type of guy to gossip about himself over others. It wasn't as if they were close enough to share their deepest darkest secrets or anything.

Lucy coughed to get Natsu's attention. The pinkette snapped out of his thoughts and grinned sheepishly at her. "Oh, right! Well, I mean, we can still go! They're having a special viewing," he started to babble as they got on line and showed the usher their tickets.

The blonde shrugged in indifference. "That's cool, I guess," she replied in a bored tone, picking at her nails. Natsu only stared. _Is that it?_ Was that all he was going to get? No glittery eyes or blushing smiles? The pinkette honestly didn't know what to say to her anymore. _Maybe she doesn't even like planetariums. Or stars. Or anything Dream Lucy likes because Dream Lucy isn't fucking real. Way to go, Dragneel._ Natsu scratched the back of his head and sighed.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like something like this, but I guess I was wrong," he mumbled as they walked down the aisles to the right row of seats. Lucy whipped her head towards him, surprised.

"What gave you that idea? How would you know what sort of things I like?" she asked, slightly on edge.

 _I don't. I only know what the girl, who looks exactly like you, in my head likes._ Natsu sighed again, waving his hand at her in a dismissive way. "It was just a feeling, more or less," he tried as they settled down. "We can still enjoy it, right?"

Lucy looked at her lap, nervously fiddling with her hands. Either this faint light was playing tricks on his mind, or Lucy was smiling to herself.

"Yeah. I guess we can." The blonde glanced at Natsu. "Listen, sorry for the misunderstanding before… and thanks," she looked up at the projected starry sky on the ceiling, her cheeks reddening slightly. "This is the coolest thing anyone's ever taken me to."

Natsu froze. A fleeting feeling of nostalgia washed over his body and a huge grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Haha, it's no problem! For a second there, I thought you hated this," he chuckled, rubbing under his nose, bashful.

Lucy was quiet for a moment. Contemplating on something. And she looked like she was going to say something too. However, the dim starry light cut to complete darkness before the planetarium came alive and the words turned to dust on her tongue.

.

Extra Notes (3):

-Loke's School Schedule-

7:45AM: Homeroom (w/ Ms. Evergreen)

8:00 – 8:55 AM: Geometry (w/ Ms. Evergreen)

9:00 – 9:55 AM: Fiore History II (w/ Mr. Jose Porla)

10:00 – 10:55 AM: English (w/ Mr. Freed Justine)

11:00 – 11:55 AM: Lunch Break

12:00 – 12:55 PM: Physical Education (w/ Mr. Gildarts Clive)

1:00 – 1:55 PM: Environmental Studies (w/ Mr. Warrod Sequen)

2:00PM – 2:55PM: Kinesiology I (w/ Mr. Richard Buchanan)

*Time Dependent on Lady Fiore Basketball Team's Schedule: Independent Studies (Basketabll-Related Injury Survey)

*Students must conduct their independent studies on their own time. The school is open until 7:00 PM every school day (Monday to Friday) unless there is a special event planned.

**Tenrou Island Private High School has special permission to exceed the standard six-hour school day to enhance the minds of young individuals. The average school day is about 7 hours.


End file.
